Tewell Leading Tradition by Three

Doug Tewell increased his lead to three strokes in the second round of The Tradition, and one of the Senior PGA Tour’s best made a move to get in contention at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Tewell shot a five-under-par 67 Friday, picking up two shots on Mike McCullough and Tom Wargo, and staying ahead of Larry Nelson, who tied the tournament record with a 64.

“We’re not going to win it today or tomorrow,” said Tewell, whose 11-under 133 total was one off the record in the first senior major of the season. “We just have to keep ourselves around and keep plugging away.”

McCullough and Wargo had second to themselves after the first round, and each shot 69 to reach 136. Nelson had nine birdies and a bogey in his round to join them.

“I’m getting much more comfortable with my swing,” Nelson said. “So I just hit a lot of good shots today. I mean, very few days you are hitting three-irons to within a foot.”

Allen Doyle (66) was four shots off the pace, with Bruce Fleisher (67), Hale Irwin (68) and Gil Morgan (69), a two-time Tradition champion, at 138.

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Tom Lehman, chasing his first victory in more than a year, used accurate irons to shoot a five-under 66 for a one-stroke lead over Vijay Singh, Billy Andrade and Billy Mayfair in the WorldCom Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Lehman said this week conditions were perfect for scoring--then proved himself correct by landing iron after iron near the pins at Harbour Town Golf Links.

The highlight was a 220-yard four-iron on the par-five second hole that settled a foot away for eagle. After a birdie at No. 5, Lehman hit a nine-iron approach on the next hole that left him a tap-in birdie and in the lead at 10-under 132 after two rounds.

“I think the big thing right now is my confidence in all parts of the game,” said Lehman, whose last victory was at the Phoenix Open in January 2000.