Tom Jenkins takes over lead - Commerce Bank Championship 2006

Jenkins was 8 under par through 16 holes in the second round of the Commerce Bank Championship on Saturday when play was suspended for good after a third rain delay.

He was 10 under for the tournament and had a one-stroke lead over Tom Wargo, who was 5 under for the round through 12 holes.

Jenkins' round started with a bogey and then he had a golfing version of a U-turn.

"Sometimes when you bogey the first hole it kind of jump starts your engine a little bit and it certainly did mine today," said Jenkins, who birdied the next four holes and then had an eagle on the par-4 6th. "At that point I'm kind of thinking this stuff might never stop today and I tried not to get in my way."

Jenkins made the turn in 6-under 29 with the highlight the 7-iron from 158 yards on the 416-yard 6th.

"It hit a foot or so in front of the cup, went by a little bit, came back and teetered on edge for a couple of seconds and then disappeared," Jenkins said. "It's always a good feeling when it disappears."

David Eger shot a 6-under 65 at the 7,011-yard Red Course at Eisenhower Park and was the clubhouse leader at 7-under 135. Also at 7 under when play was stopped at 5:25 p.m. EDT were Jay Haas, who was through 15 holes, Bruce Fleisher, who was through 13, and first-round leader Allen Doyle, who had played two holes on his back nine.

The start of the second round was delayed 30 minutes because of rain and play was suspended at 1:55 p.m. for 2 hours and 20 minutes when another band of heavy showers hit the county-owned public facility.

The second round was scheduled to be completed at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, with the final round of the $1.5 million tournament set to begin at 10 a.m., although more rain was in the forecast.

Jenkins had a two-stroke lead over Doyle, Haas and Ben Crenshaw when the second delay was called. When he returned to the course he dropped a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th to go 10 under.

Jenkins, a six-time winner on the Champions Tour whose best finish this year was a third at AT&T Classic in March, then had three pars before the final suspension.

"My putting stroke was right on today and hopefully I can keep it going," he said.

Wargo, whose last Champions Tour win was in 2000, made the turn at 6 under and opened the back nine with three straight birdies to move into second place.

Haas came in having won his last three starts on the Champions Tour. Chi Chi Rodriguez set the Champions Tour record with four straight wins in 1987.

Haas and Jenkins were in the same threesome.

"I was just tagging alone, trying to stay in his wake," said Haas, who elected not to finish the 16th hole as Jenkins did. Haas will return to face a 12-foot birdie putt. "It's straight up hill," he said. "That will be a nice one to get."

Haas, who said he took a nap during the long delay, said the course was in good condition considering how much rain had fallen.

"The fairways and greens were OK," he said. "It was tough to see. You had a bunch of old guys out there with cloud cover."

Fleisher, who won this tournament in 1999 and 2000, was 4 under through 13 holes in the second round.

Doyle, who opened with a 7-under 64, parred all 11 holes he played Saturday.

The Champions Tour has not had much luck with the weather this month. The Bank of America Championship in Concord, Mass. was a total washout two weeks ago. That was the first time the Champions Tour canceled an event outright because of weather since Hurricane Hugo scuttled the PaineWebber Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., in September 1989.

A regular Champions Tour event is scheduled for 54 holes; 36 holes must be completed for it to count as official.