Els Creates International Incident

Ernie Els turned a long day into a cakewalk, posting a tournament-record score for 36 holes to seize the second-round lead Friday in the weather-plagued International.

Play was suspended by lightning at 7:08 p.m. MDT with 52 players still on the course.

Els, forced to finish his first round early Friday because of lightning delays Thursday at Castle Rock, Colo., gained a share of the first-round lead with 15 points under the scoring system used in this event.

He added 19 points in a nearly flawless second round for a total of 34, breaking the 36-hole record of 29 set by David Toms last year.

The modified Stableford scoring system awards a player five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie, zero for a par, minus-one for a bogey and minus-three for a double bogey or worse.

Els, five times a runner-up this season, held an eight-point lead over Greg Norman, who is playing in his first tournament since hip surgery five weeks ago. Norman added 14 points to the 12 he totaled in the first round. Fellow Australian Stuart Appleby also had 26 points, with four holes to play.

Andrew Magee finished with 23 points, Jay Delsing 22 and Spain’s Sergio Garcia 21. Tom Lehman has 23 points with two holes to play.

Els played 25 holes Friday and had 10 birdies and an eagle that were worth 25 points.

Els, who had three birdies in the seven holes he played to finish his first round, had seven birdies and an eagle in his second round.

The eagle came on the par-four, 485-yard 10th hole that consistently ranks as the most difficult on the course. Els split the fairway with a 333-yard drive, then holed out a wedge from 152 yards.

“I hit a perfect drive,” Els said. “My wedge bounced a couple of times and spun back into the hole. It was one of those pure shots.”

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Two-time champion Hale Irwin shot a seven-under-par 65 at Coon Rapids, Minn., to share the first-round lead at the Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic with Ed Dougherty and Allen Doyle.

Good weather and favorable course conditions helped 46 of the 78 players break par.

Irwin, the Burnet champion in 1997 and last year, had seven birdies in a bogey-free round. It was his ninth consecutive sub-par round at the Bunker Hills layout, where he’s a combined 46 under for those nine rounds.

It’s also the fourth consecutive year Irwin opened the Senior PGA Tour event with a 65 or better.

“Birdies were the name of the game today,” Irwin said. “If you don’t make birdies, you’ll get lapped.”

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Pat Hurst, Kristi Albers and Rachel Hetherington shot five-under 67s to share the first-round lead in the LPGA’s Michelob Light Classic at Eureka, Mo.

Annika Sorenstam, who won the event the last three years and four of the six since it began, shot an even-par 72.

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Ina Kim of Encino will face Lisa Ferrero of Lodi in the final of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at North Plains, Ore.