GOLF ROUNDUP : Colbert’s Scrambles Pay Off

Jim Colbert got up and down nine times during a bogey-free round and established a one-shot lead at the halfway point of the PGA Seniors Championship at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

“I used all my skills today,” Colbert, the seniors’ leading money-winner with $313,298, said Friday after completing a second consecutive three-under-par 69 that left him at 138 on the Champions course of the PGA Resort.

The masterful scrambling exhibition left him one in front of Isao Aoki of Japan, who also had a 69 and was at 139, and two ahead of Ray Floyd.

Jack Nicklaus got a place among the leaders with a 66 that ranked as one of the most bizarre rounds of his career.

“I want to tell you, that was some round. Wow!” Nicklaus said after an effort that included six birdies, two eagles, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Arnold Palmer, playing a few holes behind Nicklaus, had no fun at all, however. He shot the worst round of his 40-year professional career, an 86 that included 10 bogeys, a double bogey, a triple bogey and a single birdie.

Palmer left the course without comment.

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Tom Lehman shot a six-under-par 65 to take the second-round lead in the MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C., while Greg Norman withdrew because of a painful back.

Lehman started the day with five pars, then birdied six of his final 13 holes to complete the two rounds at 10-under 132. He holds a four-stroke lead over John Daly, Payne Stewart, Jesper Parnevik, Bob Tway and Gene Sauers.

Norman pulled out after his first drive when he felt a shooting sensation through his lower back. He received treatment, then returned home to Florida to start a monthlong vacation.

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Caroline Pierce, winless in eight years on the LPGA Tour, shot a three-under-par 69 in windy conditions for a one-shot lead after the first round of the inaugural Pinewild Women’s Championship at Pinehurst, N.C.

Pierce was the only one in the 144-player field to break 70 and only 12 finished below par.

Brandie Burton and Juli Inkster were at 70 along with Liselotte Neumann and Missie McGeorge.