Another new name surfaced at the top of a PGA leaderboard today, and this one belongs to a 35-year-old tour rookie who enjoys karate and likes to sing "Love Me Tender."

With a blond cowlick sticking out of his visor, Eric Booker looks unprepared for the spotlight. But he seized a four-shot lead in the Honda Classic with a 6-under-par 66 for a two-round total of 13-under 131.

"There's going to be the question of how this Booker guy is going to play on the weekend," he said. "I'm kind of curious myself. Somebody has to win the tournament, and it might as well be me."

Odds are the winner will come not from golf's who's who, but from the list of who's he. Tied for second at 135 were three players with no better name recognition than Booker:

• Doug Dunakey, another 35-year-old rookie, whose 65 was the best score in the second round;
• Dicky Pride, who lost his tour card for two years and missed five consecutive cuts before this week;
• Bradley Hughes, a former Australian Rules Football player.

First-round leader Hal Sutton shot a 1-over 73 and was six shots behind at 137. Payne Stewart was also at 137 after shooting 67, and defending Masters and British Open champion Mark O'Meara shot 70 for 138.

Ernie Els shot 73 and, at 143, barely made the cut. Nick Faldo missed it at 144 after a 71 and Nick Price's 76 left him at 146.

Booker qualified for the tour by finishing fourth on the 1998 Nike Tour, then started this year by missing the cut in his first four tournaments.

But the TPC at Heron Bay - a flat, open, windswept course nestled against the Everglades - has been to his liking. He opened with a 65 and continued his birdie binge in the second round, finishing before the wind picked up.

"When you shoot 65, generally it's difficult to come back with a decent round," Booker said. "I kept my composure well and went about my business."

For the second day in a row, Booker breezed into the press room and launched into "Love Me Tender." He grew up an Elvis fan in Michigan and, like Elvis, developed an interest in karate.

During his five years as a teaching pro, Booker traded golf lessons for karate lessons, learning from a former Olympic champion.

"He doesn't like his name thrown around, but his nickname was the Angel of Death," Booker said. "It was really interesting to learn about the pressure points on the body. If somebody is bothering you in a bar, you can get their attention real quick by just putting your fingers in the right place."

Nobody has bothered Booker this week. The crowd following him - padded with more than a dozen relatives - has been slowly growing, and he tries to ignore it. The discipline and concentration learned in karate class comes in handy.

"I don't look into the galleries," he said. "If you're playing well, people are trying to get your attention. They want to get the leader to look at them and say hi. Next thing you know, you see somebody you haven't seen in 20 years, and then you've got to hit a tee shot and you're thinking about high school."

Booker finished his first two rounds before live TV coverage began, but he'll have late tee times this weekend, which means more spectators and more pressure.

And perhaps more applause. Booker figures fans always root for the underdog, so they'll root for him.

"If it was me and Nick Price coming down 18 on Sunday, I think they'd rather see me win this," Booker said. "Because Nick Price is a millionaire, and I'm not."

DIVOTS: A short putt by Paul Azinger at No. 6 lipped out and hit his foot for a two-shot penalty. He took a quadruple-bogey 8 and finished at 80-151. ... John Daly, wielding a new putter, shot 67 despite a bogey on No. 18 and was seven shots off the lead. "It's nice to see some eight-footers going in for a change," he said. ... Els splattered his clothes with mud chipping from the edge of a canal at No. 16, where he took a bogey. ... Big gap: Alan Morin, who was in the threesome with Booker, shot 80-78 and walked off the course 27 shots behind his playing partner.