John Cook takes over lead

John Cook highlighted an 8-under-par 64 with an eagle 2 on one of the PGA Tour's tougher holes today and held a one-stroke lead halfway through the Reno-Tahoe Open.

``I tapped in the 7-iron from 188 (yards),'' said Cook, who was at 11-under 133. ``It hasn't happened to me in a while. It was a nice surprise.'' .

He made the eagle on the 496-yard 12th, which played as the 31st toughest hole on tour last year with an average score of 4.33.

Cook had six birdies to go with the eagle in his bogey-free round at the 7,552-yard Montreux Golf & Country Club and had several rising stars on his heels.

Former NCAA champion Charles Howell III shot a 66 and was at 134 along with David Berganio and Jerry Kelly, who both shot 68s.

Bryce Molder, a four-time All-American at Georgia Tech making his pro debut, shot a 65 and was in a group of eight at 135 along with two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen and first-round leader Brian Watts, who had a 71.

The 43-year-old Cook is 28th on the career money list with $8.7 million but he has topped the $1 million mark only once in the last 10 years. In 1992, he was second in the British Open and tied for second at the PGA Championship. The next year he tied for sixth at the PGA and in 1994 he tied for fifth at the U.S. Open and tied for fourth at the PGA.

He's won $420,000 on tour this year, 89th on the money list, with his best showing a tie for fourth at the Shell Houston Open in April.

``It's been a struggle the last few years but the last 12 months I started to hit the ball well and it's starting to show,'' Cook said.

``There's a lot of kids there who are pretty thirsty, pretty hungry. We crusty veterans sometimes can sneak up there. It's one for the old guys this week.''

The 22-year-old Howell, who turned professional last year after winning the NCAA title at Oklahoma State, has three top 10 finishes this year, including a second in a playoff at the Greater Milwaukee Open.

``It's getting closer. I've been close a few times,'' Howell said. ``If I could win a tournament, that would be awesome. It would mean everything. ... It would do a lot of things for my status on tour.''

Berganio, 32, also has three top 10 finishes this year, his best year since turning pro in 1993 out of the University of Arizona. He shot a 64 in the third round to tie for third at the Canon Greater Hartford Open in July.

``I've just been playing smarter all year,'' said Berganio, who bogeyed his last hole.

Molder, who turned pro after playing for the U.S. Walker Cup team in Georgia earlier this month, was 5-under for his last nine holes Friday.

``I knew if I played well I could be right there,'' said Molder, whose collegiate scoring average of 70.69 broke Tiger Woods' record of 71.10, which he set at Stanford.

``I came to try to win and I'm in a position with two rounds left to go to do so,'' he said.

Janzen got to 10-under, but missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 636-yard, par-5 17th and took three putts to get down from 20 feet on the fringe on 18.

Mark O'Meara started the round just two strokes off the lead, but shot a 72 Friday.

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