Snead Rides the Wind to One-Shot Tradition Lead

The wind giveth and it taketh away, only Friday at Scottsdale, Ariz., it gave most to J.C. Snead on the 14th hole of the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain.

Snead hit his tee shot 403 yards on the 450-yard, par-four hole, and it helped begin a string of three birdies on the last five holes to give him a second-round 69 in The Tradition, the Senior PGA Tour’s first major tournament of the season.

Coupled with his first-round 69, that left him at 138, one shot better than Raymond Floyd.

Everything went right on the shot.

“I think I’ve hit it that far before, but it was a long time ago,” Snead said. “I hit it absolutely perfect for the conditions--down the left side, hit the hill just right, got a lot of roll.”

The wind, with erratic gusts at 25-40 mph, took away from first-round co-leaders Ed Sneed and Hale Irwin, who shot 75 and 76, respectively. Even Jack Nicklaus, designer of the course, struggled with a 74. Jim Colbert had a 76.

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Neal Lancaster got away with many bad shots in the second round of the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta.

John Daly simply got away.

Lancaster shot a two-under-par 70 to share the 36-hole lead with Gene Sauers, but Daly missed the cut after carding a 12 on the par-five eighth hole.

Sauers recorded a 68 to share the lead at seven-under-par 137 for two trips around the 7,018-yard Atlanta Country Club course.

Lancaster and Sauers held a one-shot lead over Nick Price and David Duval, both with 70s.

Daly was three shots off the lead when he reached the eighth tee. The 1994 BellSouth champion declined to talk about his 12, but playing partner Brett Ogle said at one point Daly hit a tree and “took three quick whacks at it left-handed” before taking a drop.

He finished with a 77-148, missing the cut by one shot.

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Annika Sorenstam finished with her lone bogey but shot a five-under-par 66 to run her two-day total to 135, good for a one-stroke lead in the Twelve Bridges LPGA Classic in Lincoln, Calif.

Caroline Pierce, who also shot a 66 Friday, and first-round leader Emilee Klein were tied for second.