Ed Dougherty
shot a 5-under 65 today and held a one-stroke lead over three players with six
others another stroke back after two rounds of the $1.4 million Kroger Senior
Classic.
Dana Quigley,
Jimmy Powell and former champion Jim Dent were at 6-under 134, while the group
at 135 included Joe Inman, who had the day's best round, a 7-under 63.
Dougherty, who started
the day two strokes off the lead, had five birdies without a bogey.
"My goal is to not make bogeys
on the weekend," said Dougherty, runner-up in the U.S. Senior Open this year.
"I wish I could say that was my style."
Dent shot a 64 to move into contention over the 6,639-yard Grizzly Course of The
Golf Center north of Cincinnati. He birdied three of the last four holes and eight
overall and would have shared the lead if he hadn't missed an easy putt for an
eagle on No. 11.
"I
missed a 2-footer," said Dent, who won the inaugural Kroger Classic in 1990. "That
kind of woke me up."
Dent, 60, and his wife, Willye, recently adopted 6-week-old twin brothers at the
request of their adopted daughter, 4-year-old Victoria, who named the boys Joseph
and Joshua.
"I'm
trying to make $100,000 so I can put $50,000 away for each one for college," said
Dent, who is 21st on the earnings list.
Powell beat Dent in playoff for the "Super Seniors" portion of the tournament,
a two-day competition for players over 60. Powell, 64, earned $30,000 in the playoff
and maintained his challenge to become the oldest player to win an event on the
Senior PGA Tour.
Inman, last year's Rookie of the Year, capped his 63 with an eagle on the 546-yard,
par-5 18th. He shares third place with John Bland, Walter Hall, Graham Marsh,
Gil Morgan and Lee Trevino.
"I
really played well," said Inman, who holed his approach shot. "I putted beautifully.
I had 23 putts, but there were three or four times I putted from the fringe. The
lucky part came with two chip-ins on the last six holes. How many times do you
do that?
"The last
hole, I looked like I knew what I was doing. It was flying by the hole. It was
going 8 feet past the hole, but the hole got in the way."
Trevino birdied three of the last four holes to move into the tie for third.
Dougherty, in his second
year on the senior tour, declined to speculate on what it would take for him to
capture his first championship.
"I'm
just going to wake up and start playing golf," he said. "I figure I have the low
score now and, if I shoot the lowest round tomorrow, I'll be in good shape."
