Bay Hill Second Round: O'Hair Goes Low, Takes Lead

Bay Hill was so penal Friday that most players figured it would be difficult for anyone to shoot a low number and separate themselves from the pack. Sean O'Hair apparently didn't get the memo.

O'Hair opened with three straight birdies and didn't drop a shot until his final hole, which gave him a 5-under 65 for a three-shot lead over Jason Gore heading into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tiger Woods remained in the mix for a sixth title at Bay Hill, courtesy of a short game that turned a mediocre round into a 69.

Woods chipped in for birdie on his opening hole for the second straight day, holed another birdie chip on No. 8, and kept his round together with two head-turning chips to save par. He was in fifth place, five shots behind.

"You can make bogeys in a heartbeat out there today because the greens are ... not accepting shots very well," Woods said.

O'Hair was at 8-under 132 and will be in the final group today with Gore, who had four birdies and four bogeys for a 70.

Robert Allenby had a bogey-free round of 65 and was at 4-under 136, along with Chamberlain High graduate Ryuji Imada, who had a 66.

O'Hair's round was set up by his tee shots, and he figured if he was driving it well, he probably would swing the irons the same way. His first three birdies were all within 8 feet, and he had a putt at birdie on all but three holes.

Sounds simple enough.

"The rough is very penal, but if you're in the fairway all day, you don't have to worry about it," O'Hair said. "The greens are absolutely perfect. You just give yourself some nice opportunities, and all of a sudden you're 8- or 9-under par."

Even so, O'Hair could relate with the grind that it became for Woods, and at times for double major winner Padraig Harrington, who shot a 68 and was at 2-under 138. And he could appreciate what happened to Davis Love III, who had a 74 and missed the cut, seriously damaging his bid to get to the Masters.

It doesn't take much to get going the wrong direction.

"You don't really even need to hit it sideways," O'Hair said. "Just a little bit off here and there, and you're giving yourself some pretty tough par opportunities."

LPGA: In-Kyung Kim shot her second-straight 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead halfway through the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International.

Norway's Suzann Pettersen (69) and Australia's Karrie Webb (68) were second at 5 under, and South Korea's Eun-Hee Ji (70) and Song-Hee Kim (69) were 5 under.

CHAMPIONS: David Eger shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 to top the crowded first-round leaderboard in the Cap Cana Championship.

Eger, a two-time winner on the 50-and-over tour, had a one-stroke lead over Nick Price, Eduardo Romero, Keith Fergus, Tim Simpson and Tom Jenkins.