Ozaki Binges on Birdies Before Rain Stops Play

Champions Tour rookie Joe Ozaki made a record-tying eight birdies in a row and was atop the leaderboard at nine under when rain stopped play Friday during the second round of the Senior Players Championship at Dearborn, Mich.

Ozaki’s run ended when he missed the green at No. 10 and settled for a par. He birdied No. 11, bogeyed the 12th and was facing an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-five 13th when play was stopped.

“It would have been nice to finish today,” Ozaki said through an interpreter. “Tomorrow, the conditions will probably be completely different.”

The field hopes they stay exactly the same.

Thanks to heavy rain earlier in the week, the course on Thursday and Friday allowed tee shots to stop dead in the fairway and putts to roll harmlessly toward the cup.

Six players, including Tom Watson and Gil Morgan, were one shot behind Ozaki, whose 28 on the front nine was one shot off the record for nine holes at a Champions Tour event. Jay Sigel and Seiji Ebihara shot 27 -- Sigel at the 1998 Bell Atlantic Classic and Ebihara in the 2002 Senior PGA Championship.

Ozaki turned 50 in May and is making only his sixth start on the tour.

The 20 players who didn’t complete the second round will finish this morning before starting the third round.

“We’ve got 36 more holes, and there is a lot of golf yet to be played out here,” said first-round co-leader Fuzzy Zoeller, whose even-par round of 72 included four birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey five. He is at seven under.

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Reilley Rankin had only 30 minutes to practice with her new clubs before the start of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

It might have been the best thing to happen to her.

Rankin, her regular set of clubs lost in travel two weeks ago, shot a three-under 68 to get to eight-under 134 and grab a share of the lead with Mi Hyun Kim (66) before heavy rain forced the suspension of second-round play until today at Sylvania, Ohio.

Natalie Gulbis was eight under through nine holes before play was stopped. Se Ri Pak, trying to match Mickey Wright’s tour record of five victories in one event, and Annika Sorenstam were four under through 11 holes.

The course at Highland Meadows Golf Club already was waterlogged from three inches of rain that fell Wednesday.

Tournament director Judd Silverman said it was a “longshot” that the course would be ready for play today.