GOLF ROUNDUP : Sheehan Moves Into Share of Lead

Patty Sheehan blew past the competition with a three-under-par 68 to gain a share of the lead after two rounds of the windswept LPGA Championship Friday at Wilmington, Del.

Sheehan, the defending champion, started the day in a 10-way tie for 17th place at 72. She had four birdies and one irksome bogey for a two-under 140 total, and was tied with Robin Walton.

Walton offset a double-bogey and a bogey with four birdies for a 70. Alice Ritzman shot a 73 for a 141.

Sheehan, Walton and Ritzman were the only players under par after two trips over the 6,386-yard DuPont Country Club course. For a second consecutive day, players had to contend with swirling winds up to 30 m.p.h.

“The wind gusted and came from everywhere,” Ritzman said. “It seemed like it changed direction every five seconds. It was a nightmare.”

The cut was at nine over, the highest on tour this year.

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Butch Baird and Bobby Nichols, non-winners on the Senior PGA Tour since 1989, got off to good starts to possibly break the string at the PaineWebber Invitational at Charlotte, N.C.

Nichols, who has come close to winning at the TPC at Piper Glen the previous two years, shot a six-under-par 66. Baird was the first to reach the clubhouse with that total as he birdied his last three holes.

Tom Shaw and Dale Douglass were at 67. Arnold Palmer, who designed the course and is the designated host for the event, struggled to a 75.

Baird’s last victory was in 1989 and he has only one top-10 finish in 29 tournaments. Nichols is looking for his second victory on the Senior PGA Tour, which he and Baird both joined in 1986.

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For the second day in a row, overnight rains washed out play in the Byron Nelson Classic at Dallas. More rain is forecast for the weekend as tournament organizers try to get in three rounds of play.