Continuing his birdie binge, David Toms maintained his distance from an elite field by posting a tournament-record 29 points for the second-round lead today in the Sprint International.

Toms, who had 16 points to claim the first-round lead by one point over Phil Mickelson, added 13 to his total today under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event.

That bettered the 36-hole record of 27 points shared by Mickelson (1997) and Vijay Singh (1998).

Chasing Toms was Paul Goydos, with 26 points, and a talented group that included David Duval at 25, Ernie Els at 24 and Steve Elkington at 23.

"These scores are ridiculous, mine especially," Goydos said.

Asked if he expected the record scoring to continue, Goydos said, "If the golf course plays like it did today -- overcast and no wind -- it wouldn't surprise me."

Unlike the early years of this tournament -- when golfers started from zero each day and there were daily cuts -- all scores are cumulative for four rounds. The format, which rewards aggressive play, awards 8 points for a double eagle, 5 points for eagle, 2 points for birdie, zero for par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.

After having an eagle and six birdies in the opening round, Toms added seven birdies in Friday's 13-point round at 7,559-yard Castle Pines Golf Club.

"I just had a real solid day, no weaknesses," Toms said. "I made one long putt -- a 35-footer for birdie on the 13th hole -- and a few short ones. I had two real good chances for eagle that I didn't make, so I left a few points out there.

"This is the best I've felt about my game since early spring, when every time I went out I thought I could shoot a low round."

Toms, who ranks among the top 50 on the PGA Tour's money list for the third straight season, was playing poorly in all phases of his game before getting the problems corrected in a session with his instructor last weekend.

Toms birdied his first two holes Friday with putts of 6 and 2 feet. After a bogey at No. 3, he added five more birdies. He had eagle putts of 10 feet and 12 feet on the par-5 eighth and 17th holes, but two-putted both. He also three-putted for par after reaching the par-5 14th in two.

On Thursday, play was suspended twice by lightning for about three hours, and 51 players were forced to finish their opening rounds Friday morning, after which the second round began.

The field features eight of the world's top 10 players, including No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Duval and No. 3 Davis Love III.

Joining Duval with 25 points was Chris Perry, while Andrew Magee and Steve Flesch matched Els' 24-point total. Billy Mayfair and Stephen Ames joined Elkington at 23.

Sergio Garcia, the 19-year-old Spaniard who was runner-up to Woods in last week's PGA Championship, had a 16-point round for a total of 21. Also at 21 were David Sutherland and Olin Browne. Mark O'Meara and Singh, the defending champion, each had 20, and Mickelson and Love had 19 each.

Woods had a 9-point round for a total of 16.

Goydos ran off nine birdies in an 18-point round that he called "as good as I've played. I hit every fairway, every green and it seemed like every putt. I had such a roller-coaster round yesterday. It was nice to go in the same direction."

Duval had eight birdies and a bogey, worth 15 points, capping his round with six birdies on his second nine. He actually made nine birdies on the day, sinking an 8-foot putt for birdie to conclude his opening round early Friday.

"I am real excited to play well," Duval said. "I had a chance to win here in 1995, my rookie year (when he finished fifth). I've missed the cut every year since, which, to me, doesn't make any sense. It seems like it should fit me well here."

AP