Steve Lowery moves two shots clear

Steve Lowery and Bo Van Pelt, two guys who didn't earn a dime the first few months of the season, played some of their best golf Friday at the Chrysler Championship on a tough day that sent Vijay Singh home early for the second straight week.

Lowery birdied three straight holes to start his back nine and finished with a 5-under 66 for a two-shot lead over Van Pelt, who played even better. Van Pelt never came close to a bogey in shooting 65, more than 7 1/2 shots better than the field average on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.

Davis Love III and Bernhard Langer each shot 69 and were another shot behind with Tom Pernice Jr. (66).

Lowery started his year by missing eight straight cuts and 11 of the first 12, and he didn't secure his card until a tie for eighth two weeks ago in Las Vegas. With that out of the way, he was at 8-under 134 and set his sights on winning.

``It's been a lot more fun,'' Lowery said. ``I started to play a lot better toward the end of the year. I felt a lot more competitive, so it's been nice the last six or seven weeks.''

The last two weeks have been disastrous for Singh, who started the year at No. 1 in the world ranking.

He missed the cut last week at Disney, along with Tiger Woods, by taking a triple bogey on his 15th hole of the second round. Singh, the defending champion at Innisbrook, went 74-71 to miss the cut by one shot.

The cut looms large this time of the year for those trying to get into next week's Tour Championship, and those with only two tournaments left to finish in the top 125 on the money list and keep their cards.

Joe Ogilvie was among those who closed strong.

He is 33rd on the money list and was on the cut line until saving par with a 10-footer on the 15th, then making a testy 4-footer for par on the last hole for a 72 to finish at 2-over 144.

Charles Howell III is No. 30 on the money list, but continued to boost his bid to get back to East Lake with a 71 that put him in the group at 4-under 138 that included Retief Goosen and Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman.

Jason Bohn, 31st on the money list, was 5 over after his first 15 holes, but shot 68 on Friday and was at 1 over.

After two weeks on tour where birdies were required just to keep pace, Innisbrook is a demanding test late in the year with thick rough that gobbles up stray tee shots and makes it tough to get close from around the green.

``When the wind is switching back and forth a little bit, it's just hard to hit every fairway,'' Love said. ``That's the only way to make this course play easy -- hit every fairway.''

Lowery showed him the way, having missed only seven fairways the first two rounds. Love saw some of his action on the practice range, and could never have guessed Lowery was in such a deep funk earlier this year.

``I was watching him hit a few drives in front of me and I said, 'Boy, he's swinging good,''' Love said. ``And I go out there and look on the board and say, 'Oh, yeah, he's scoring good, too.'''

He should have seen Van Pelt.

Van Pelt missed the first four cuts this year, but now is No. 57 on the money list. He missed only two fairways, and the only time he wasn't putting for birdie came on the 18th, when his approach was just in rough some 25 feet away.

``That was one of the better rounds of golf I've played this year,'' Van Pelt said. ``You could tell the scores were going to be high. It's a tough golf course.''

The real test comes on the weekend, especially with 15 players within five shots of the lead.

The intriguing contender is Langer, an ageless wonder at 48.

The two-time Masters champion has not played in five weeks, and this will be his last event of the year until he takes 15-year-old son Stefan to the Father-Son Challenge in December.

Langer started the week huddled in his Boca Raton house as Hurricane Wilma passed, a storm so severe that a large tree crashed into the side of his house, and when the back of the hurricane came through, wind pushed the tree off the house and into the yard. He had no electricity, no water.

Suddenly, the Chrysler Championship looked like an escape.

``I was going to come anyway,'' he said. ``That's another reason, to come up here and have air conditioning, hot food and a shower.''

His game was a pleasant surprise, too.

Having not played since the German Masters, Langer wasn't sure if he would hit fades or draws.

``It was pretty straight most of the time,'' he said.

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