Golf Roundup : Lye Shoots 66 to Tie Norman, Grady for Lead

Mark Lye birdied the first three holes Friday en route to a six-under-par 66 and a share of the second-round lead with Australians Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in the $800,000 Greater Milwaukee Open at Franklin, Wis.

Norman, the first-round leader with a 64, shot a 69, while Grady had a 68 at Tuckaway Country Club.

The three were tied at 11-under-par 133 after two rounds on the 7,030-yard course that was soggy from heavy rain Thursday night.

Lye, playing the back nine first, birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th holes. He got birdies again on the second, seventh and the eighth holes, the last with a 30-foot putt.

Norman, who had a bogey on the first hole Thursday, bogeyed the second hole Friday. He recovered with birdies on the 524-yard sixth hole and the 197-yard eighth.

On the back nine, Norman birdied the 12th, a par-5, and the 14th, a par-3. He missed a 3-foot putt for a birdie on the par-5 16th that could have given him sole possession of the lead.

“Everyone seems to be playing well,” Norman said. “It’s basically just a putting competition.”

Grady, who had a first-round 65, put together a four-birdie round Friday, but for the second straight day said he didn’t play well, especially off the tee.

“I could have shot 68 or 72,” he said. “I didn’t feel good out there; obviously I’m doing something right, but I have some things to work out.”

Phil Blackmar, with a 69, and David Frost, with a 67, were one shot back of the leaders at 134.

Two shots back at 135 were Wayne Levi, Curt Byrum, P.H. Horgan III, Duffy Waldorf, Nick Price and Larry Mize.

Walter Zembriski and Jim O’Hern overcame a lengthy rain delay and shot four-under-par 66s to share the lead in the first round of the $300,000 Senior tournament at Lexington, Ky.

Zembriski parred his final four holes after the 2-hour 40-minute delay at Marriott’s Griffin Gate resort.

O’Hern, of Louisville, Ky., was one under par at No. 8 when the rain came but responded with birdie putts from 18 feet on No. 12, five feet on No. 13, seven feet on No. 17 and a par-saving eight-footer on No. 18.

Orville Moody, Lou Graham and Ben Smith were one shot back with 67s, while Bob Boldt, Rives McBee, Larry Ziegler and Harold Henning were tied at 68 in the field of 72 over the 6,595-yard layout.

Jose Rivero of Spain shot an eight-under-par 64 for a 130 total and a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the $655,000 European Masters tournament at Crans-Sur-Sierre, Switzerland.

Stephen Bennett and Barry Lane of Britain were at 132.

Spain’s Severiano Ballesteros, the favorite, had a 68 and dropped into a share of fourth place with Emmanuel Dussart of France at 133. Ballesteros, the world’s second-ranked player, had shared the lead with a 65 in the opening round of Europe’s second-richest tournament, behind the British Open.