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Local leads at halfway point

Canada's Richard Zokol shot a four-under 68 Friday for the lead after two rounds of the Canadian PGA Championship. The 41- year-old from Richmond, British Columbia holds a 36-hole total of nine-under- par 135 for a one-shot edge over Brian Hull and Kevin Burton.

This event, which is making its debut on the Buy.com Tour this year, is co- sanctioned by the Canadian PGA and is the second oldest golf tournament to be held in Canada.

"I have been playing well, and there is no doubt that Canadians try a little harder and have a little more focus in Canadian events," said Zokol. "There is no doubt. We are proud and we want the spectators locally to feel proud when we play well. That's a motivator."

What's also a motivator is the fact that Zokol is still in search of his first win after joining the developmental circuit in 1999. A member of the PGA Tour since 1982, Zokol has devoted nearly all his time to the Buy.com Tour this season. Although he has made the cut in all seven of his starts, his best finish was a tie for 12th at the Carolina Classic a month ago.

Two shots back at the start of Friday's round, Zokol looked to be falling from contention early with a double-bogey at the par-five first hole. He suffered the seven after his drive into the rough resulted in him finding a fairway bunker with his second shot. After blading his third shot out of the sand and over the green, Zokol took two hacks out of more rough before two-putting to drop to three-under par.

"I was like, oops. One little glitch and now I'm in big trouble," Zokol said.

But he dug himself out of the hole with birdies at the second, fifth and sixth holes, then vaulted into the lead on the back nine with three straight birdies from the 11th.

"I keep myself in the present and put all of my attention on executing the shot and let the results just happen. It works," said Zokol, the winner of the 1981 Canadian Amateur and the 1992 Greater Milwaukee Open while on the PGA Tour.

Hull, who turned in a second-round 67, had a quick start to his day when his three-wood from 232 yards out left him with a six-inch tap-in for eagle at the first.

Burton's 70 included five birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey at the 13th.

Jay Delsing had a 66 -- the co-low round of the day -- for fourth place at seven-under with Jay Hobby and Andrew Magee. Gary Hallberg, Stiles Mitchell and Rod Pampling are next at minus-six.

Joel Kribel and Jeff Sanday, who shot 65s for the lead on Thursday, slipped into a tie for 18th after each struggled to 75s in round two.

Sixty-nine players made the cut, which fell at one-under-par 143.

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