Pernice moves into lead

Tom Pernice, Jr. posted 12 points for the second consecutive day to move atop the leaderboard in Friday's second round of The International.

Pernice had five birdies, two bogeys and an eagle to increase his total to 24 points within the modified Stableford scoring system. The unique format awards two points for a birdie, five points for an eagle and no points for a par. One point is taken away for a bogey and three are deducted for a double-bogey or worse.

Stewart Cink had 14 points -- the most by any player in the second round -- for second place at 22 points. Chris Riley was next with 21, while Chris DiMarco, Edward Fryatt, Tim Herron and Brent Geiberger shared fourth place with 20 points.

Lee Janzen, who led with 17 points after round one, struggled with three bogeys against just one birdie Friday to slip into a tie with Scott McCarron, defending champion Ernie Els, two-time International winner Phil Mickelson and British Open champ David Duval at 16 points.

Janzen, Shaun Micheel and Chris Smith were the only players among the 73 that survived the 36-hole cut that lost points on Friday.

The cut came at seven points. The field will be reduced to the low 36 players plus ties after the third round.

Pernice, who was mistake-free in Thursday's opening round, committed a bogey at his first hole Friday -- the par-four 10th -- after he drove into the right rough and was forced to lay up. He recovered the lost point and added one more when he rebounded to birdie the 11th.

"It seemed like when I made a bogey, I was able to bounce back with a birdie or something, so I kept my momentum going through the course of the day," said Pernice, who repeated the process with a bogey at 13 and a birdie at 14.

The turning point came at the par-five 17th, where Pernice knocked a six-iron over the back of the green but managed to chip in his third shot for eagle.

"The eagle was the thing that sparked the day, obviously, in this format," Pernice said.

Although he bogeyed the 18th to make the turn with 18 points, Pernice enjoyed a flawless second nine that included three birdies.

The 41-year-old Pernice, whose lone victory came at the 1999 Buick Open, would like his chances to reel in his second PGA Tour title if he could count on 12 points per day.

"If that's not good enough to win, then maybe it's not good enough to win, but you would think 48 points would usually do pretty good here, so I would never complain."

Forty-eight points just happens to be the tournament-record total established by Mickelson in 1997 and matched by Els last year.

Sergio Garcia, who pitched in from 40 yards to save par at the ninth, finished tied with Justin Leonard, Woody Austin and Charles Howell III with 19 points.

1992 winner Brad Faxon and '98 champ Vijay Singh were six points off the pace with 18, while Jose Maria Olazabal, the '91 titlist, finished with 17 points.

David Gossett, the 1999 U.S. Amateur who notched his first PGA Tour victory last week at the John Deere Classic, missed the cut by two points. Former International winners David Toms, Steve Lowery and Clarence Rose also failed to make it to the weekend.

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