GOLF ROUNDUP : Rodriguez Still Leads, but Aoki Is Charging

Chi Chi Rodriguez withstood a birdie flourish by Isao Aoki and maintained a one-stroke lead Friday at the midway point of the U.S. Senior Open at Denver.

While most of the first-round contenders were faltering, Rodriguez had a workmanlike round of one-under-par 70 that included only one bogey, giving him a 36-hole total of five-under 137 at Cherry Hills Country Club.

“I shot what I deserved today,” Rodriguez said. “I hit good shots when I had to, and I made the putts I needed to make.”

Aoki birdied four of five holes on the back side--at one point tying Rodriguez for the lead--but fell back with a bogey at No. 18 when he missed the green and chipped long.

Aoki’s 68, which featured six birdies, put him at 138.

Two shots further back was Miller Barber, who had his second consecutive 70 for a total of 140. Barber, at 62 bidding to become the oldest player ever to win the Senior Open, hit 16 greens in a bogey-free round.

Jack Nicklaus, one shot behind Rodriguez as the day began, slipped to a 73 and led a group at 141. Dale Douglass, Simon Hobday, Kermit Zarley and Rocky Thompson also were at that figure.

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John Adams birdied his last two holes to tie Ted Tryba for the lead after the heat- and humidity-plagued second round of the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic at Williamsburg, Va.

“It’s brutal out there,” Adams said after a six-under-par 65 at Kingsmill Golf Club.

Adams, a winless 16th-year pro, and Tryba, a Hogan Tour graduate who also shot a 65, finished two rounds at nine-under 133.

At 134 were Jim Gallagher Jr., Blaine McCallister, Mark McCumber, Jeff Cook and Tom Byrum, whose career-best 62 tied the course record.

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Missie McGeorge, winless after 10 years on the LPGA tour, shot the best round of her life, a seven-under-par 65, for a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Youngstown-Warren Classic at Warren, Ohio.

Mixing nine birdies and an eagle with four bogeys, McGeorge nudged ahead of Dottie Mochrie, Ayako Okamoto, Vicki Fergon and Karen Lunn after the first round of the 54-hole event. Another 10 were bunched at 67 on the 6,188-yard, par-72 Avalon Lakes Golf Course.

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Former Dodger pitcher Rick Rhoden used four birdies in five holes in the middle of the front nine for a six-under-par 66 and the first-round lead of the $400,000 Isuzu Celebrity Golf Championship at Stateline, Nev.

Michael Jordan shot an 11-over-par 83, one stroke better than Charles Barkley.