Love, Els atop leaderboard at MCI Classic<\/p>\n
HILTON HEAD, South Carolina (AFP): Ernie Els, trying to put
\nhis Masters disappointment behind him, trailed halfway leader --
\nand four-time winner -- Davis Love by one stroke after Saturday's
\nchilly second round of the MCI Classic.<\/p>\n
South Africa's Els, let down by his putter at Augusta as he
\nfinished runner-up to Fiji's Vijay Singh on Sunday, carded a 67
\nfor 135, one shot behind Love, whose five-under 66 put him at
\n134.<\/p>\n
Love, looking for his first PGA Tour win since he triumphed
\nhere in 1998, eagled the par-four 16th and nabbed a birdie at 18
\nthat \"probably felt like an eagle\" after his double-bogey there
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"Davis knows this place pretty well,\" Els said. \"So I just
\nkind of followed him around today.\"<\/p>\n
Their group started on the 10th, and Love sealed his round
\nwith a 15-foot birdie at the ninth.<\/p>\n
\"He looks very comfortable out there,\" Els said. \"He plays the
\nsafe shot off the tee, and he knows where the greens are running
\nto.\"<\/p>\n
\"It's nice to put two good rounds together, and I'm still
\nlooking for the four good ones,\" Love said. \"I haven't done it
\nthis year, even really last year.\"<\/p>\n
\"But, you know ... a one-stroke lead over Ernie Els is
\ncertainly nothing to get all excited about.\"<\/p>\n
Els' stayed in touch with back-to-back birdies to start his
\nback nine, and made an eight-footer to save par at the ninth.<\/p>\n
\"I played pretty solid,\" he said. \"I thought it was pretty
\ncold out there today. We had no wind, which was good for us,
\nespecially the way we finished yesterday.\"<\/p>\n
Asked if he remembered tougher conditions during an event in
\nthe United States, Els said, \"Yeah, Saturday at Augusta.\"<\/p>\n
Steve Lowery successfully battled the conditions, rocketing up
\nthe leaderboard with a 64 for 137, joining a group sharing third
\nthat also included Notah Begay (66) and Dan Forsman (71).<\/p>\n
Lowery, whose lone U.S. tour victory was six years ago,
\nbirdied four of his first five holes and three of his last four
\nas he shaved nine strokes off his first-round 73.<\/p>\n
\"I could beat anybody today, and yesterday I couldn't beat
\nanybody,\" he offered by way of explanation. \"That's golf.\"<\/p>\n
Seve Ballesteros<\/p>\n
In Sunningdale, England, torrential rain has delayed the start
\nof the second day's play in the inaugural Seve Ballesteros
\nTrophy, the Press Association reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Play was scheduled to start at 8:10 a.m. local time with the
\nsecond set of fourballs - but heavy rain during the night of
\nFriday to Saturday and Saturday morning left greens and bunkers
\nunder water.<\/p>\n
Weather permitting the fourballs will now start at noon with
\nthe contest finely poised at 4-4 after Friday play.<\/p>\n
Earlier Friday, Sergio Garcia led Europe back to a 4-4 tie
\nagainst Britain and Ireland on the first day.<\/p>\n
Britain and Ireland won the morning foursomes 3-1 but Europe
\ntook the fourballs 3-1. Four more fourballs and four greensomes -
\nwhere all four players drive before each pair plays alternate
\nshots with the preferred drive - will be followed on Sunday by 10
\nsingles in the Ryder Cup-style event.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Garcia won both his matches, linking with
\nJarmo Sandelin of Sweden to overcome European captain Colin
\nMontgomerie and British Open champion Paul Lawrie 3 and 2 in the
\nafternoon fourballs.<\/p>\n
Garcia, who had to be persuaded to play by his captain,
\nBallesteros, because of a schedule conflict, was in spectacular
\nform in the afternoon with two eagles on his card.<\/p>\n
The first was from 20 feet on the first, the second came when
\nhe holed from a greenside bunker at the 273-yard par-4 ninth.<\/p>\n
Sandelin also had an eagle after a five-wood second shot to
\ntwo feet at the 14th and he and Garcia were 10 under par.
\nIn the morning, Garcia and Frenchman Jean Van de Velde beat
\nLawrie and Gary Orr 3 and 2.<\/p>\n
Garcia had intended to play the MCI Heritage Classic on the
\nU.S. Tour this week and hesitated to commit to this new event
\nbecause of a dispute with European Tour officials.<\/p>\n
But Ballesteros persuaded him to change his mind.<\/p>\n
\"I felt I had to do it because Seve has helped me so much. I
\nthink my place was here,\" Garcia said.<\/p>\n
\"Sergio played very well. He likes this format, as we found at
\nthe last Ryder Cup,\" Montgomerie said. Garcia also won both his
\nmatches on the first day at Brookline last September.<\/p>\n
Facing the loss of the morning foursomes, Ballesteros injected
\nhimself into the fourball lineup. But he and Jose Maria Olazabal,
\nhis former Ryder Cup partner, could not handle Englishmen Lee
\nWestwood and David Howell and lost 2 and 1.<\/p>\n
But the other three European partnerships came through.<\/p>\n
Thomas Bjorn of Denmark atoned for missing a two-foot putt at
\nthe last in the morning to join with Miguel Angel Jimenez of
\nSpain in a 2 and 1 success over Darren Clarke and John Bickerton.<\/p>\n
And Germans Bernhard Langer and Alex Cejka made up for a loss
\nin the foursomes to beat Ian Woosnam and Padraig Harrington 2 and
\n1 in the fourballs.<\/p>\n
Ballesteros, a former world number one, has slipped to number
\n590 in the rankings and admitted he played like it.<\/p>\n
\"I played four or five good holes then four or five bad ones.
\nInconsistent but not bad for match play,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In partnership with Olazabal, they won 11 matches, lost two
\nand drew two when they played together in four Ryder Cups from
\n1987 to 1993.<\/p>\n
Bjorn, playing with Robert Karlsson of Sweden, cost Europe a
\nvaluable half point in the foursomes when he missed a two-foot
\nputt on the final hole to lose to Padraig Harrington of Ireland
\nand Welshman Phillip Price.<\/p>\n
Montgomerie, the world number three, thought that full point
\ncould be vital.<\/p>\n
\"To be 3-1 instead of 2-2 makes a big, big difference,\" the
\nScot said.<\/p>\n
And so it proved.<\/p>\n
Bjorn and Karlsson led by one hole with three to play, but
\nBjorn missed the green at the 438-yard 16th and dropped the hole
\nwith a bogey.<\/p>\n
Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam won the opening match against
\nSpaniards Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez after Woosnam put
\nthem two holes up with a 20-foot eagle putt at the 14th.<\/p>\n
Van de Velde, golf's most famous loser for throwing away the
\nBritish Open title last year, gained a small measure of revenge
\nwhen he and Garcia beat Open Lawrie and fellow-Scot Orr 3 and 2.<\/p>\n
Ballesteros was delighted at how the day went in the event
\nbearing his name, with large crowds on the Sunningdale course in
\nthe stockbroker belt west of London.<\/p>\n
\"I felt like the players are the chicken and the people are
\nthe sauce,\" he said. \"If you have chicken with no sauce it
\ndoesn't taste very good, does it?\"<\/p>\n
\"I was happy to see so many spectators and their response was
\ngreat. It felt like the Ryder Cup.\"<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
MCI Classic (USA unless noted):
\n 134 - Davis Love 68-66
\n 135 - Ernie Els (Rsa) 68-67
\n 137 - Steve Lowery 73-64, Notah Begay 71-66, Dan Forsman 66-71
\n 138 - Brad Fabel 71-67, Frank Nobilo (Nzl) 69-69
\n 139 - Stewart Cink 71-68, Tim Herron 68-71, John Huston 71-68,<\/p>\n
Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70-69
\n 140 - Paul Azinger 70-70, Jay Don Blake 73-67, Robert Friend 71-<\/p>\n
69, Fred Funk 71-69, Jimmy Green 71-69, Jonathan Kaye 73-<\/p>\n
67, Tom Lehman 70-70
\n 141 - Edward Fryatt (Gbr) 67-74
\n 142 - Nick Price (Zim) 75-67, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72-70
\n 143 - Carlos Franco (Par) 73-70
\n 144 - Esteban Toledo (Mex) 75-69, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71-73<\/p>\n
Failed to qualify
\n 145 - Nick Faldo (Gbr) 72-73, David Frost (Rsa) 74-71
\n 146 - Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 72-74
\n 147 - Robert Allenby (Aus) 70-77, Stephen Ames (Tri) 76-71
\n 148 - Bradley Hughes (Aus) 75-73
\n 150 - Fulton Allem (Rsa) 76-74, Trevor Dodds (Nam) 76-74
\n 154 - Sandy Lyle (Gbr) 74-80
\n 158 - Wayne Grady (Aus) 80-78, Gabriel Hjertstedt (Swe) 80-WD<\/p>",
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