U.S. SENIOR OPEN Fernandez fashions 64; Watson one stroke back

Vicente Fernandez is seeking a major title that has eluded him.
TOLEDO (AP) -- Vicente Fernandez believes he's owed a major championship. On Friday, at the U.S. Senior Open, he took a step toward claiming it.
Fernandez went birdie-birdie-eagle early in his round, then closed it with three birdies in a glittering 7-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead over Tom Watson after two rounds of the U.S. Senior Open.
"I would like to win one because I think the majors owe me at least one on the senior tour," Fernandez said.
The 57-year-old Argentine has finished second twice and third three times in senior major championships, including being runner-up by one shot to Hale Irwin at the 1998 Senior Open at Riviera.
Lowest round of day
Fernandez's round followed a 73 and left him at 5-under 137. It was the lowest round of the day by five shots and was 13 strokes under the average score of the 156-player field.
The 64 was the lowest second-round score in 24 Senior Opens and was one shot off Vijay Singh's competitive course record at Inverness Club, set during the second round of the 1993 PGA Championship.
"It happened that it was my day and I was lucky," Fernandez said. "I played well and I took advantage of it. That's the big difference."
He started Friday in a logjam for 12th, seven shots behind Watson, the first-round leader with a 66.
Good approach shots
While the rest of the field -- including Watson -- had difficulty gauging the speed of the hard, fast greens at Inverness, Fernandez hit his approaches so close that he eliminated a lot of the guesswork.
"The difference was that I made three or four mental mistakes and I made four bogeys," Fernandez said, comparing his first round with the second.
Two holes he bogeyed Thursday he birdied in the second round. He played a shot better on each of the first seven holes on the back nine.
Watson started and ended his round of 72 with bogeys and was at 138. Bruce Lietzke was at 140 after a 71, with Allen Doyle (69) at 141 and Fuzzy Zoeller another stroke back after a 71.
Another birdie
Starting his round on No. 10, Fernandez birdied 11 after hitting a sand wedge to 9 feet, then hit a 9-iron to 31/2 feet for another birdie at the par-3 12th.
At the par-5 13th, Fernandez hit a downwind 6-iron to the green. The ball hit on the front edge, trickled up to the hole and almost went in for a double-eagle, hitting the pin and coming to rest 8 inches away for a tap-in eagle.
He parred the next 11 holes before finishing with a flourish.
After rolling in a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 7, he hit a sand wedge to 10 inches at 8 for another birdie that pulled him even with Watson.
Fernandez then took the lead at No. 9, hitting a pitching wedge to 10 feet and holing the putt.
Never in top 10
Fernandez has won tournaments all over the world but never finished in the top 10 in a PGA Tour event, remaining largely unknown in the United States. He has three career Champions Tour victories, but none since 1999 in Las Vegas.
The day began with 36 players completing the first round after it was suspended by a half-inch of rain late Thursday. The rain did not make Inverness any less of a mystery to the players, however. Only seven players broke par in the second round.