Ed Dougherty's friends have been calling him "one foot in the rough Ed'' for years.

Now, they have something else to call him: second-round leader in the U.S. Senior Open.

Overnight rain softened the Des Moines Golf and Country Club course and led to improved scores today. But no one improved enough to catch Dougherty, who came in with a 3-under-par 69 to build his lead to three strokes.

"One of my teachers down in Ibis, Fla., called me this morning. He said, 'Eddie, enjoy the day,' " Dougherty said. "He says, 'Man, you are leading the U.S. Open. Go out there and enjoy it.' I did.''

Dougherty, who led by two strokes Thursday, said he got his nickname years ago and still gets Christmas cards addressed, "Hey one foot."

He hasn't spent much time in the rough this week, however, and stood at 7-under-par 137 heading into the final two rounds of a tournament that has drawn massive crowds.

Steady Dave Eichelberger was alone in second at 140 after a 69 that included just one bogey. Leonard Thompson, Gil Morgan and Bob Duval were next at 141. Thompson and Duval shot 68s, matching Jim Colbert for the best rounds of the day, and Morgan had a 71.

Duval, whose son, David, is the top money winner on the PGA Tour, liked his position.

"I have learned that on an Open golf course, you can't be greedy," Duval said. "You take what the golf course gives you. Pars are a really good score. I mean, even though 7-under is leading, I think par is still a good score come Sunday afternoon.''

Dougherty's second straight solid round came on a day spiced by a hole-in-one and Arnold Palmer wondering aloud about his golfing future after missing the cut in the Senior Open for the first time since 1991.

Palmer shot an 84 after opening with an 81. The 84 included a two-stroke penalty for an improper putting stance and gave him his worst score ever in the Senior Open.

"This is terrible, the last two days," Palmer said. "I don't know that I will play much more competition like this. I may play a few tournaments, a Masters or something like that. But unless I start hitting it a lot better in Latrobe, I am not going to take it anywhere else."

Palmer, 69, said that while he was unhappy with how he played, "I am not saying I am not going to play again, either." He said he'll probably play in next year's Senior Open at Saucon Valley in his home state of Pennsylvania, and is committed to a senior event in Boston next month.

Hank Cooper, an insurance agent from Sanger, Texas, nailed the hole-in-one, hitting a one-hopper into the cup with a 4-iron on No. 3, a 172-yard par-3. He finished with a 74 to make the cut at 147.

Rain overnight slowed the treacherous, rolling greens that proved so troublesome on Thursday, when only 11 golfers broke par. Twenty beat par today.

"These conditions were much easier than yesterday," said Thompson, who improved five strokes. "Yesterday, it was like somebody had an ax over your head and at any minute they could lop you right off."

Unlike Thursday, when he bogeyed three of the first eight holes, Dougherty got off to a fast start today with two straight birdies and felt he made only one major mistake.

That happened on No. 9, a par-5, when he tried to get aggressive and put himself in position for a birdie. Instead, he missed the green with a wedge and bogeyed the hole.

"I sort of got off my game plan," Dougherty said. "That is what a golf pro told me years ago. He says you make pars, birdies just happen. When you try to make birdies, bogeys come. On the back nine, I went back to my game plan.''

Defending champion Hale Irwin remained in contention with a 72, which left him six strokes back at 143. J.C. Snead, Bruce Summerhays, Joe Inman, Tom Wargo, Jose Maria Canizares and Joe Inman also were at 143.

Among other prominent golfers who failed to make the cut, which came at 6-over 150, were Bruce Fleisher, the leading money winner among the seniors; Vicente Fernandez, last year's runner-up; Hubert Green and Chi Chi Rodriguez.

Despite his mediocre play, Palmer was far and away the top draw with the crowds, which have reached proportions never before seen for a Senior Open. The crowd count of 38,400 today brought the total for the week, including practice rounds, to 154,400.

"This championship is one that has had a great deal of support from the community, from the state," Palmer said. "If my coming here helped to increase or improve that, that would be good enough reason for me being here."

DIVOTS: Tony Polus, a one-time rock musician, withdrew after 27 holes because of a shoulder injury. He was 23-over par. ... Irwin now has been par or better in 24 of his last 25 rounds. ... No. 5, a par-4, 445-yarder that forces players to navigate around a cluster of trees, was ranked as the hardest hole today. It yielded just seven birdies and was bogeyed 70 times. ... Cooper's hole-in-one was the fifth in the 20 years of the Senior Open.

AP