Dan Forsman weathered a course-record charge by Jim McGovern, scrambling to a 5-under-par 66 Friday and building a 2-stroke lead after two rounds of the storm-plagued $1.1 million St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.
PGA Tour officials suspended play Friday evening with 77 golfers still on the course after two delays totaling almost three hours.The second round will be concluded this morning with the third round beginning after the field is cut to the low 70 and ties.
Forsman, a morning starter who registered the last of his three PGA Tour wins in 1990, carded six birdies, three bogeys and an eagle for a 36-hole total of 12-under 130.
McGovern tied the course record at the 7,006-yard, par-71 TPC at Southwind course with a 9-under 62.
First-round leader Peter Persons was able to shave only one stroke off par in the second round and joins four others three strokes behind Forsman at 133.
U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart turned in a round of 7-under 64 and was among five players at 8-under 134.
Forsman, whose top finish this year was seventh in the Houston Open, said his confidence continued to build as he played Southwind's soggy fairways and soft greens.
"I was nervous at the start today, but I'm determined to close with some good scores. I started with a birdie at No. 10 and after birdies at 15 and 16, I looked like I was in control," Forsman said.
A 2-foot tap at No. 16 had put Forsman at 10 under for the tournament, but a poor tee shot led to a bogey 5 at the 17th.
Forsman rallied on the front nine with a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 1 and an 8-footer for a birdie 4 at No. 3.
A chip that found the cup from 25 feet away at No. 5 was good for an eagle 3, but Forsman 3-putted from 25 feet at the 6th hole and then parred out.
At Dearborn, Mich., J.C. Snead proved his course-record 65 in the opening round of the Senior Players Championship was no fluke when he came within a stroke of it Friday.
Snead shot 66 for a 36-hole record of 131, an improbable 13-under par. He threatened to make a runaway of the $1 million event considered one of the majors on the Senior PGA Tour.
The old halfway mark was 11-under by Jack Nicklaus in 1990, when the tournament was played at nearby Dearborn Country Club.
His nearest challenger, left-hander Bob Charles, was five shots back after a 69.