His Second-Round Score In Morning Leads Field

By Stuart Hall

Kohler, Wisc. - Pity those players who took to The Straits Course at Whistling Straits on Friday afternoon.

Flag-straightening winds and increasingly firmer greens made scoring a tad more difficult. And as dusk approached, the result was a U.S. Senior Open leaderboard that changed ever so slightly from early afternoon morning.

Tom Watson, 57, shot a 6-under 66 to claim the halfway lead at 8 under. Five players, including four who played in the morning, are bunched up behind him at 5-under 139. Sixty-two players advanced to the weekend after the cut was established at 4-over 148.

Watson, the 1982 U.S. Open champion, is the 36-hole leader for the third consecutive year in this championship. Watson went on to tie for fifth and finish second, respectively, on those occasions.

"Yeah, it would be nice to not finish second again and come back with that beautiful trophy; it sure would," he said.

His closest pursuers include Ben Crenshaw (5-under 67), Loren Roberts (69), Ireland's Des Smyth (69) and Lonnie