Ed Dougherty
birdied five of the first six holes in a 6-under-par 66 today and took a one-stroke
lead over Allen Doyle and Gil Morgan after two rounds of the TD Waterhouse Senior
PGA Championship.
It was the second straight 66 for Dougherty, who had to wait out a 4-hour lightning
and rain delay with eight holes to go. Lightning also knocked out the scheduled
telecast on ESPN.
Doyle, the first-round leader after a 63, and Morgan, who opened with a 64, were
at 11-under 133 at the new Tiffany Greens course.
Fred Gibson, who had a 69, and David Lundstrom, with a 67, were at 136 with Graham
Marsh, Vincente Fernandez and Jim Thorpe another stroke back. Don Bies, Jim Colbert,
Bob Duval, Larry Nelson, Jim Ahern and Bob Dickson were all at 138.
Dougherty, who made his Senior PGA Tour debut in last year's tournament here and
is still seeking his first victory, two-putted from 25 feet for birdie on the
first hole and then used strong iron play to set up birdie putts of 3, 3, 9 and
20 feet on Nos. 3 through 6.
He added another birdie with an 8-footer on No. 9 for a 6-under 30 on the front
nine. He made a 4-footer for birdie on No. 11 just after the long rain delay.
"I wished the rain had
never come because I was on a roll," said Dougherty, who missed a 6-foot putt
on the final hole for his only bogey of the day. "Rain changes your attack a little."
Morgan, who trailed by
four shots at the turn, eagled the par-5, 530-yard 11th just before the rain delay
and had a chance to tie for the lead when he hit an iron out of a bunker from
181 yards within 12 feet only to leave the birdie putt 2 feet short.
Doyle, who birdied the first four holes Friday, stayed in contention with a steady
70 with three birdies and one bogey.
The most spectacular shot of the day came from John Mahaffey, who holed a 4-iron
from 185 yards for an eagle on the 420-yard 18th hole, which has been the tournament's
most difficult hole.
"I
just hit it as high as I could and it went in," Mahaffey said.
Bob Murphy, who had a quadruple bogey 9 on the first hole Friday, started Saturday
with an eagle on the same hole, a six-stroke swing.
"That
may have never happened in golf," said Murphy, who chipped in after his 7-iron
hit on the green and bounced over. "I guess if you play golf long enough, you
see everything."
