Nelson takes over with round of 63

Larry Nelson closed in on his fourth victory in five starts, shooting a 7-under-par 63 today to take a two-shot lead at the Vantage Championship.

Nelson, the Senior PGA Tour's leading money-winner with more than $2 million, broke a tour record with his 28th straight round of par or better.

Three others shared the previous record of 27 rounds.

``I hit a lot of good shots but didn't make some of the putts I thought I should,'' said Nelson, who had a bogey-free round and hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. ``I was very happy with the way I played today. I was sorry that I couldn't distance myself more from the guys behind me.''

Nelson has a two-round total of 11-under 129. Gil Morgan, the 1998 Vantage champion, shot a 65 to get to 9 under.

``We spent most of the day saying 'Nice putt, Larry,''' Morgan said. ``We spent a lot of time watching Larry make putt after putt.''

Asked what it will take to overtake Nelson, Morgan joked, ``Oh, I think a 55 will do it.''

Nelson, who began the second round one shot off the lead, birdied the third, fourth and sixth holes. Nelson held on to the lead the rest of the round after a birdie on the difficult uphill par-4 10th combined with a Morgan bogey.

Bruce Summerhays, who bogeyed his last two holes, tied Nelson briefly at 8 under. But Nelson strung together birdies on 14, 15 and 16 to take a two-shot lead.

Nelson had a chance to tie the tournament record of 62, but missed a 5-foot birdie putt at the 18th.

Jim Dent and first-round co-leader Isao Aoki are tied at 8 under heading into Sunday's final round. Dent shot his second straight 66 and earned $34,000 as he won the two-round Georgia-Pacific Senior Series tournament for players 60 or older.

Dean Overturf, another first-round co-leader, shot a 68 and is a 7 under with Tom Wargo.

Summerhays, who shot a 68, and Bruce Fleisher (67) are five shots back. Hale Irwin (66) and Gary McCord (66) are among five players at 5 under.

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