Pak Is Leader of Pack at Women’s Open

Rookie Se Ri Pak continued to tame the Blackwolf Run Course at Kohler, Wis., that crushed the likes of Nancy Lopez and Meg Mallon on Friday in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

A one-under-par 70 put Pak at three-under 139 halfway through the biggest event in women’s golf, one stroke ahead of Liselotte Neumann, the 1988 Open winner, who also shot a 70.

After high scores, slow play and a 51-minute lightning delay, darkness suspended play with 21 golfers on the course. The 36-hole cut will be determined this morning.

Lopez and playing partners Mallon and Jane Geddes were so deflated by their play that they approached the 18th green waving white towels.

Lopez’s 83 was the worst of the 81 U.S. Open rounds she has played and left her at 18-over 160. Mallon shot a 76 for 153, Geddes a 79 for 157.

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Scott Gump tied the course record with an eight-under 62 to take the second-round lead at the PGA’s Canon Greater Hartford Open at Cromwell, Conn.

Gump’s round put him at 10 under, one stroke better than Larry Mize and Omar Uresti.

Casey Martin, who sued for the right to use a motorized cart in tour events because of a circulatory disorder in his right leg, shot a 73 and was four over for the tournament. He missed the cut by five strokes.

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Rookie Tom Jenkins shot a seven-under 65 for a one-stroke lead over Graham Marsh after the opening round of the State Farm Senior Classic at Columbia, Md. Jenkins, a senior tour rookie, last collected a first-place check in 1975 as a member of the PGA Tour.

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Tony Johnstone, Craig Hailine and John McHenry were tied for the lead at 138 after two rounds of the Irish Open at Dublin.

First-round leader Colin Montgomerie shot a three-over 74 to fall to one back after injuring an ankle when he tripped while signing autographs before he played.