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Golf

'Steel' focus puts Furyk in lead

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Jim Furyk knows the biggest challenge at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am often is not the weather or the field -- it is maintaining focus during the typical six-hour rounds.

This year, Furyk has a secret weapon to survive the long waits on the choked courses: Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Lynn Swann, one of his boyhood idols and his amateur playing partner.

So far, the plan is working.

Furyk birdied his final three holes for 6-under 66 Friday, moving one stroke atop a leaderboard as crowded as the links.

"You have to be patient," Furyk said. "I know we haven't cracked 51/2 hours yet out there. You just have to be patient, get used to it and set your mind frame. I'm not going to let it bother me."

First-round leader Kevin Sutherland was among five a stroke back, with Davis Love III and five-time Pebble Beach champion Mark O'Meara two back. Twenty players were within four strokes of Furyk.

Though the weather remained almost perfect, Furyk's 7-under 137 was the tournament's highest 36-hole leading score since 1990.

An intermittent wind kicked up, particularly for those playing Spyglass Hill, but the firm, dry fairways and greens forced big adjustments for everyone.

"It's just been different," said Furyk, who matched Tim Clark for the day's best round. "I've never seen the golf courses this way in a lot of years playing here. I never realized how much slope there is on some of these greens. I've played here a lot when the greens were very wet, and they're usually slow. Not this year."

But an impressive round at Poppy Hills was nothing for Furyk compared with his trip behind the Steel Curtain this weekend.

Furyk grew up in Pennsylvania as a Steelers fan and holds season tickets in Pittsburgh. He arranged his pairing with Swann several months ago, and he fought the urge to talk about Super Bowl triumphs instead of pars.

"I figure on my days off, I don't want to talk about golf, so I haven't quizzed him too much," Furyk said. "I could probably bore him to death for hours."

Tiger Woods is not scheduled to return from knee surgery until next week at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, but there was no shortage of competition. Except for Tom Lehman, Furyk's closest competitors were not big names, with 11 combined victories among the five: Paul Stankowski, Tim Herron and Rod Pampling joined Lehman and Sutherland at 6 under.

Paul Azinger withdrew with a back injury after shooting 83, and Ted Purdy was disqualified for failing to sign his scorecard.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CLASSIC: Bobby Wadkins overcame back spasms over the final six holes for a two-shot lead over Christie O'Connor in the opening round of the Champions Tour event at Key Biscayne.

Wadkins started feeling the spasms after he birdied the 12th. Then he found bunkers on Nos. 15, 16 and 17, but he wasn't worried.

"Once I got it to 6 under I knew whatever happens I'll be in the ballgame," he said. "That's the advantage of being in the back on Friday. You can look at the board and know whatever happens, you're still going to be in the hunt."

O'Connor withdrew after 13 events last year because of lingering leg problems from when a motorcycle fell on him in 2001. He shot 4-under 68.

Fuzzy Zoeller shot 1-over 73 but was disqualified when he teed off on the Crandon Gold Course while filming a segment for a local TV station.

Zoeller spent an hour giving instruction to a TV reporter. When the cameraman said he wanted to film the ball being hit at full speed, Zoeller hit three balls off the No. 6 tee into the lake. PGA Tour officials saw Zoeller hitting off the tee and disqualified him.

Tour rules say competitors cannot practice on the course between rounds.

HAWAII PEARL OPEN: Playing from the back tees, 13-year-old Michelle Wie opened with 2-over 74 at one of the premier men's tournaments in Hawaii. The only female golfer in the field of 192, and youngest overall, Wie felt fine until she ran into bees on the 11th.

"I got stung like five times in the same place, so I was limping," she said. "My whole leg was pretty sore after that."

Wie said her goal in the three-day event, which draws half its field from top Japanese pro and amateurs, was to place in the top 20. She had two birdies and four bogeys in her round, making the turn at 37. She was paired with three men from the Japanese tour and beat two of them.

ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP: Australia's Brendan Jones scored 14 under the modified Stableford format for a share of the second-round lead in Sydney. Jones totaled 22 points to match countrymen Nathan Green (13), Nick O'Hern (12) and Terry Price (12) for first in the European PGA event. Players receive eight points for double eagle, five for eagle, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or higher.

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