Lowery pulls 4 points clear

Steve Lowery, getting positive vibes from his victory here in 1994, carded seven birdies and one bogey to claim the second-round lead Friday in The International.

Lowery, who began the day with 8 points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event, overcame windy conditions to score 13 points and boost his total to 21.

Craig Barlow was second with 17 points, Mark Brooks had 15 and British Open champion Ernie Els 14.

First-round leader Steve Pate, who compiled 11 points on Thursday, had zero points Friday. Also at 11 were Billy Mayfair, Jay Haas and Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

Lee Janzen stood at 10, Jose Maria Olazabal at 9 and Vijay Singh at 7.

The scoring system awards 5 points for eagle, 2 for birdie, zero for par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.

Sergio Garcia struggled in his second round, making only two birdies compared to six bogeys and a double bogey. His minus-5 total left him with 2 points.

Garcia survived the cut, but Phil Mickelson and David Duval did not. Both began the day at minus-2. Mickelson, who won this tournament in 1993 and 1997, had a two-round total of minus-18, and Duval finished at minus-16.

Defending champion Tom Pernice Jr. was another casualty, winding up at minus-11.

The field, cut to the top 70 players and ties for Saturday's third round, will be cut again to the top 36 players and ties for Sunday's final round.

Winds gusting in the 30-to-40 mph range made play difficult, particularly for those with afternoon tee times. Ogilvy was the only afternoon player among the top eight on the leaderboard.

Tom Lehman, who managed to finish at plus-1 despite playing in the afternoon, said the conditions were ``nearly impossible. The wind was blowing so hard I was off-balance all day and I was actually dizzy.''

Lowery wasn't nearly as disoriented.

``I shot 6-under today in some difficult conditions,'' Lowery said. ``If I keep playing like this, I've got a good chance to win.

``The course played tough. It was really windy and tough to pull the right club.''

More often than not, Lowery made the right choice. He sank five putts of 12 feet or longer in a round that included four birdies in a span of five holes.

``I drove the ball well and was able to take advantage of driving it in the fairway,'' he said.

Lowery's 21 points matches his total after two rounds in 1994, when he beat Rick Fehr in a playoff. He eagled the par-5 14th and 17th holes in his final round that year.

``It's always good to come back to a golf course you've won on,'' he said. ``I remember that I made eagles on 14 and 17. I eagled 17 (Thursday), so that hole's been pretty good to me.''

Because of swirling winds both Thursday and Friday at Castle Pines Golf Club, scores tended to be worse than in previous years.

``I think it's playing as hard as it's ever played,'' Lowery said. ``The wind blew pretty much all day. The greens are firmer and faster than they've been the past few years.''

Lowery, who also won the 2000 Southern Farm Bureau Classic, ranks 77th on this year's PGA Tour money list. His best finish was a tie for second at Milwaukee.

Lowery has been a fixture on Tour for the last 10 seasons, a status Barlow hopes to achieve.

Barlow, who has twice lost his Tour card, earned exempt status for this season by finishing 122nd on the money list last year. He currently ranks 199th, however, and could lose his card again.

``I've got another 10 tournaments to try to play well in,'' he said. ``I would love to not have to think about that.

``I'm making a lot of birdies, which is definitely the key in this format.''

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