GOLF ROUNDUP : Love Scores Double Eagle, but Brooks Has Lead

Mark Brooks opened the second round of the World Series of Golf by going birdie-eagle. He lost one shot to Davis Love III.

Love birdied the first hole at Firestone at Akron, Ohio, on Friday, then hit a six-iron shot 180 yards into the cup for a double eagle--the fifth on the PGA Tour this season, the first in the history of this tournament and the first of Love’s six-year pro career.

“You have to get lucky to have a shot from 180 yards out fly into the hole,” Love said.

He went on to a 66, but that wasn’t enough to keep pace with Brooks’ faster finish--a late string of four birdies that gave him a 64 and a two-round total of 136 for the lead at the tournament’s halfway point.

Dillard Pruitt was in second at 137.

Love, also six off the pace after one round, utilized his 3-2 start to move within two shots of the lead. He was tied with Joey Sindelar and Mike Reid, who shot 68s.

Love said his six-iron shot for the double eagle hit the flagstick, “about six inches, a foot up.”

Babe Hiskey and Don Bies had eight-under-par 64s at Four Hills Country Club course in Albuquerque, N.M., in the opening round of the Sunwest Bank Senior Golf Classic.

Thirty-eight of the 78 senior pros in the field broke par on the 6,722-yard, par-72 course, which has undulating but small greens. Many of the players consistently hit long irons off the tee.

“How can you get in trouble when you’re teeing it up with a four-iron?” said Lee Trevino, who, along with Gibby Gilbert, shot 66. “I wouldn’t be surprised if someone shoots 62 before the end of the week.”

Bies one-putted nine greens and birdied the first six holes on the back nine. Hiskey had a round that included 10 birdies.

Nancy Scranton matched the one-day-old Oak Park Golf Club course record with a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to take the second-round lead in the inaugural LPGA Shootout at Oak Brook, Ill.

Scranton’s round tied the course record set by first-round leader Laurel Kean and put Scranton at seven-under 137, one shot ahead of Liselotte Neumann, who also had a 66.

Scranton made several difficult putts, including a 30-footer at the par-three, 167-yard seventh hole and a 20-footer at the 310-yard, par-four 17th.

Rick Southwick rallied for a one-up victory over Phil Mickelson, ending the defending champion’s hopes of becoming the ninth player to win consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships.

Southwick was three holes down after Mickelson had a birdie-three at the 10th hole. But Southwick won the next four holes with three birdies and a par. He lost the lead on the par-three 16th hole but took the lead for good on the par-five 17th hole when he put a shot from a sand trap 32 yards away within three feet of the cup and tapped in for a birdie.