Golf Capsules: Idle Ochoa leads LPGA Tour Championship

RICHMOND — Sophie Gustafson moved within two shots of leader Lorena Ochoa at the LPGA Tour Championship on Friday before second-round play was suspended because of bad weather.

Rain swamped the Houstonian Golf and Country Club before dawn and the start of the second round was pushed back six hours. The tournament resumed at 1 p.m., but light rain started falling about two hours later and play was halted for the day at 5:05 p.m. with darkness approaching.

Ochoa didn’t play on Friday after shooting a 6-under 66 early Thursday. She will start her second round at daybreak Saturday.

Gustafson shot a 70 in the first round, then played 11 holes and moved to 4 under on Friday. Helen Alfredsson, Juli Inkster and Wendy Ward were 3 under.

The players were allowed to lift, clean and place because of the soggy conditions.

"The greens were really wet out there," said Inkster, 1 under through 10 holes in her second round. "I thought they left us out there too long, but that’s just my opinion. I played good, but I usually do in wet conditions."

The weekend forecast is mostly clear and tournament officials are racing to finish the season-ending event by Sunday night.

LPGA Tour vice president of rules and competition Doug Brecht felt fortunate that the second round began at all, considering how the day began. The course managed to dodge powerful storms that moved up the Texas coast throughout the day.

"We’re pretty lucky right now in that a big storm was heading our way and we didn’t think we were going to get to play as long as we’re playing," Brecht said. "Like most storms that have headed here, it broke up before it got to us and was not nearly as strong or severe."

But Brecht said tournament officials will still need "a little bit of luck" to finish 72 holes by late Sunday afternoon.

More rain is expected overnight and into Saturday morning, and if a high number of players make the cut — the top 70 and those tied will move on — that will push back the tee times for the last groups.

"We’ve got a couple of other issues, we’ll see how they pan out," Brecht said.

The LPGA wants to avoid reducing the tournament to 54 holes at all costs, mainly because of the event’s importance.

Ochoa is trying to win her fourth straight player of the year honor. She leads Jiyai Shin by four shots on the leaderboard and needs a victory to pass the 21-year-old South Korean in the points standings. Shin and Ochoa are also in a virtual dead-heat for the Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average.

Several players also need good performances to crack the top 80 on the money list and avoid going to qualifying school in two weeks.

"There are a ton of things riding on this tournament," Brecht said. "We are committed to playing 72 holes."

Brecht mapped out a tight schedule for the rest of the weekend that would get the tournament finished by 5 p.m. on Sunday. He was happy to see the players set a brisk pace on Friday to move things along.

"We are playing a lot faster than we did (Thursday), because there are less rulings and no wind," Brecht said. "So we’re actually playing a little faster than the time schedule that I’ve laid out for us going forward from here."

Shin was one of the idle players who took advantage of breaks in the weather to practice.

"There isn’t much you can do, but practice and get ready," Shin said. "I haven’t really had much practice with waiting out rain delays."

Brecht said the course absorbed 0.64 inches of rain Friday. Though the course drained well, he expected that players would be allowed to use preferred lies for the rest of the tournament.

PGA European

Westwood shoots 69 for 2-shot lead in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Lee Westwood shot a 3-under 69 Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Dubai World Championship, strengthening his chance of winning the European money title.

The English golfer could pick up two big prizes on Sunday. If he wins the last tournament of the European Tour season, he will receive $1.25 million in prize money — plus a $1.5 million bonus for winning the Race to Dubai money prize.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, the leader of the money race going into the tournament, also shot a 69. He was one of six players tied for second place at 7 under, two shots behind Westwood.

The others are Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, England’s Ross McGowan, Australia’s Robert Allenby, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas.

Westwood is confident of winning both prizes.

"I am as much in control of my game as I have been for a long time," he said after a round that began with two birdies on the Earth Course. "I feel very calm and happy with myself. All parts of my game feel solid and I enjoy times like this. I know that if I play as good as I can play I can win this tournament."

Westwood said he took the advice of his caddy, Bill Foster, and stopped looking at the leaderboard during his round.

"I have always been a leaderboard watcher," he said. "But this week we decided to try something different. So we are not looking."

McIlroy had gone to the top of the leaderboard, reaching 9 under with an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole. He covered the front nine in 31 shots. But he slipped backed by missing two putts from inside 3 feet to save par on the 14th and 15th greens.

"I feel I am playing well enough to give myself a shot at the title," the 20-year-old McIlroy said. "I am still in a good position going into the weekend not to dwell on missed opportunities."

Harrington, a winner of two British Open Championships and the 2008 PGA title, held the lead when he reached the par-5 18th. But he found the water his second shot and again when going for the green, putting his ball in the stream to the left of the flag.

Harrington finished with a 69 and dropped back to join the group of players in second place. Westwood sank a 20-foot birdie putt at the same hole to reach 9 under for two rounds.

Allenby, the Australian first-round leader, slipped back after making bogey at his first hole and shot 72.

-- Graham Otway

Champions

Peter Senior wins Champions Tour Q-school

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Australia’s Peter Senior won the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament on Friday, shooting a 5-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Joe Ozaki, Steve Haskins and Ronnie Black.

Senior, the winner of 18 tournaments in his home country, three events in Japan and four more on the PGA European Tour, had a 17-under 266 total on TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course. The top five finishers earned full exemptions for the 2010 season, while Nos. 6-12 received conditional exemptions. Senior also earned $30,000.

"Getting in here has been an unbelievable thing." Senior said. "I can now set my schedule and I’m excited about playing on the Champions Tour next year."

Jim Roy, a reinstated amateur, secured the final full exemption, making a 6-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Kirk Hanefeld and Bruce Vaughan.

Haskins, the son of Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins, finished with a 74. Ozaki shot a 66, and Black had a 70.

The top-30 finishers and ties are eligible to compete for spots in open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events next year.

PGA

Points, Bettencourt lead at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — D.A. Points shot a 2-under 70 at Del Monte, and Matt Bettencourt had a 71 in wind and rain at Spyglass Hill to share the second-round lead Friday in the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.

Points, 66th on the PGA Tour money list this season, had a scrambling round with two eagles, three birdies, two bogeys and a triple bogey.

"I’ve had the most fortunate tee time of the tournament at 8:30 and we got through before it got too bad," Points said. "I had some tough shot, but I played well overall. I had a recent top-10 finish and I was in the top 70 on the money list. I’m playing the best golf of my career and I just hope to keep it going."

Bettencourt, who won the 2008 Nationwide Tour Championship and just completed his rookie season on the PGA Tour, had four birdies and three bogeys to match Points at 6-under 138.

"It was very windy and nasty," Bettencourt said. "It was the toughest I’ve ever seen Spyglass. It was brutal."

Wind gusted to 40 mph and steady afternoon rain fell at all three tournament courses. Only six players in the field of 75 pros from the four major pro tours broke par. Seventeen pros shot 80 or higher and only eight players improved their scores from the first round.

Champions Tour veteran Jim Thorpe, who had 72 at Spyglass Hill, and PGA Tour newcomer Craig Bowden, who shot a 68 at Del Monte, were tied for third at 5 under.

Two-time tournament winner Mark Brooks, who had a 70 at Del Monte, and Bryce Molder, who shot a 71 at Spyglass, were 4 under.

Olin Browne, who shared the first-round lead with John Cook, shot a 76 at Spyglass Hill to finish at 2 under. Cook, the winner of the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship this month, carded a 77, also at Spyglass Hill.

Cook was among three players at 1 under.

Two-time defending champion Tommy Armour III shot an 80 at Spyglass Hill to finish at 7 over.

Mina Harigae, who will make her debut on the LPGA Tour next season, shot a 74 at Del Monte and leads the four women pro entrants at even par 144.

The 72-hole event continues Saturday at all three courses. The final round Sunday, which will include the top 40 pros and ties and top 10 teams, will be held at Pebble Beach. The pro winner will earn $60,000 from the $300,000 purse.