Hughes leads by three after 63

Bradley Hughes, a 1994 Presidents Cup international team member fighting for his PGA Tour existence, made a big move toward solving his problems today in the Michelob Championship.

Hughes shot a career-best 8-under-par 63 on his second trip over the Kingsmill Golf Club's River Course to reach the midpoint at 11 under.

He leads David Sutherland by three shots and a big group of others, including David Duval and Loren Roberts, by four heading into the weekend, when temperatures are expected to drop about 30 degrees into the 50s.

Tom Scherrer also was at 7 under after a remarkable round that started with him at even par and just hoping to make the cut.

Scherrer clinched that with a career-best 7-under 29 on the front, despite making just a par at the easy par-5 7th. He got to 9 under after 16 holes before closing with his second and third bogeys of the round.

Scherrer said the bogeys left him dismayed, ``but once I go back and take a shower and have dinner, I'll be pretty proud of what I did.''

Scherrer's fade gave Hughes the best round of the tournament.

The key, Hughes said, came two weeks ago in Texas when his frustration with hitting good shots and not getting scores to match caused him to address the last part of his game that he hadn't completely broken down.

As it turns out, it was the ball's fault all along.

``I was just standing there hitting good shots and posing on them and the next thing you know they are going in the water or a bunker,'' he said.

The problem had Hughes at No. 126 on the money list, one spot below the cutoff for winning exemption next year without having to requalify.

Desperate, Hughes switched from the wound ball he'd used for years to a two-piece, and his distance - and confidence - returned immediately.

He made the cut for just the fourth time in 17 events last week and finished tied for 32nd, his best finish since a tie for third in February.

``I had changed clubs and my swing, my hairstyle, done everything,'' he said. ``Nothing was working. ... Now I know if I have the yardage, I can just go ahead and hit it and know that it is going to get there.''

Hughes made nine birdies and shook off his lone bogey, at No. 9, by sinking an 18-foot putt on the 10th hole to get it going again.

Sutherland had one early bogey and six birdies on the 6,853-yard layout, giving him hope that he can turn around a season when he's made most of the cuts, but often wound up finishing near the bottom on Sundays.

``There's nothing wrong with making cuts, but there's something to be said for every once in a while getting into the mix,'' he said.

Duval, who returned from a 10-week layoff to win last week's Buick Challenge, overcame two bogeys to shoot a 65 and join the leaders.

``Although I don't feel like I played my best today, I did a very, very good job of capitalizing when I did his some good shots,'' Duval said.

Duval also got off to a better start. After going 3 over on his first four holes Thursday, he was 4 under after five in the second round.

``Today my rhythm was a lot better,'' he said.

Others at 7 under included Tommy Armour III, who had a 66; Steve Pate, J.P. Hayes, who had 69s; and Michael Bradley, who had a 67.

Defending champion Notah Begay III followed an opening 76 with a 71 and failed to make the cut. So did Billy Andrade, who was one shot off the lead after an opening 67, but ballooned to a 75 in the second round.

Curtis Strange, who lives at Kingsmill and is the only player to have entered the event in each of its 20 years here, had a 69 on Friday and made the cut. He's never finished better than third on his home course.

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