| Coal
Valley, Ill. 10th July 1998 -
Steve Jones got badly needed help from a drink cooler to rebuild
a disintegrating round and grab a share of the 36-hole lead with Frank Lickliter
in the Quad City Classic. Jones
shot a 5-under-par 65 and Lickliter a 64 as they tied at 129, 11 under for two
rounds. Defending champion David Toms and Kenny Perry each shot their second 65s
and were at 130. P.H.
Horgan III and Russ Cochran, each with 66s, were at 131. First-day leader Curt
Byrum fell into an eight-way tie at 8-under after shooting a 69. Also at that
figure were D.A. Weibring and Hal Sutton, who started the day a stroke off the
lead following opening-round 64s. Jones,
the 1996 U.S. Open champion, started as if he was going to humble the 6,762-yard
Oakwood Country Club course. He eagled No. 10, his first hole of the day, to get
to 8-under, then added birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 17. His
round began to fall apart, however, when he bogeyed Nos. 18 and 1, failing to
get up and down after errant approaches. "I
was a little disgusted with myself," Jones said. "All of a sudden I'm
9 and I'm thinking, `What am I doing?'" More
trouble appeared imminent as his tee shot on No. 2 veered toward the rough. But
the ball smacked off a course marshal's cooler and rolled back into the fairway.
Jones took advantage,
lofting a wedge to 18 feet and making the birdie putt, then tapping in after a
great wedge to within a foot at No. 3. He
got to 12-under with a birdie at No. 6, but gave the stroke back on the next hole.
Lickliter's
round was highlighted by six birdies in his first 11 holes. "I
had a couple 30- or 35-footers out there today," Lickliter said. "It
just comes down to making some putts." Lickliter
is in his third year on the PGA Tour, and earned half his career total of $690,836
in the last year. This year he was 17th in the Western Open and 18th in the U.S.
Open. Casey
Martin, who won a lawsuit for the right to ride a cart in PGA tournaments, added
a 68 to a first-round 66 and was at 134, five off the lead and four strokes better
than the cut of 2-under 138. Among the victims of the cut was John Daly, who had
only a 72 Friday and missed the weekend by a shot. He was among nine players who
failed to qualify after opening with 67s. | 
