GOLF ROUNDUP Verplank shoots 63, leads by three shots in HP Classic event

Hale Irwin holds a one-shot lead on the Champions Tour.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS -- Scott Verplank enjoys his annual trip to New Orleans regardless of how he plays, because it gives him a chance to reminisce about a dear, departed friend.
After shooting a 63 Friday in the second round of the HP Classic, this year's visit to English Turn has a chance to be extra special for Verplank.
His 16-under 128 gave him a three-stroke lead and a 36-hole tournament record as the par-72, 7,116-yard course continued to yield low scores.
Brian Gay and Todd Barranger, players who have rarely made a cut this season, were tied for second.
Davis Love III and first-round co-leader Akio Sadakata, who shot a front-nine 29 Thursday, were among five players another stroke back.
Tommy Moore, Verplank's teammate at Oklahoma State, was the golf instructor at English Turn before he died of a rare blood disorder in 1998. Moore, who played on the PGA Tour from 1990-94, was 35.
Champions Tour
HOOVER, Ala. -- Hale Irwin shot a 7-under par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Larry Ziegler and Bruce Fleisher in the first round of the Bruno's Memorial Classi.
Irwin recorded five birdies on the final nine holes and didn't have a bogey on the opening day of the Champions Tour event on the 6,992-yard, par-72 Founder's Course at the Greystone Golf Club.
"It's always great to birdie the last hole and come off the course with a good feeling," said Irwin, seeking his first win of the year. "One of my goals this week was to play bogey-free, or very few bogeys.
"Today was one of my best putting rounds all year."
Ziegler and Fleisher couldn't quite match Irwin's consistency. Ziegler had eight birdies but also bogeyed the par-4 third and 16th holes.
Fleisher, meanwhile, hit a 76-yard wedge shot on the par-5 No. 13 for eagle and got his fifth birdie on No. 18 after a bogey on the previous hole. He had been ill and only decided to play at the last minute.
"I got up this morning and made plans not to play," Fleisher said. "The flu started two days ago. I was real close to not playing."
Tom Jenkins and Morris Hatalsky were two strokes off the pace at 67 while four golfers were three shots behind Irwin.
Last year's winner, Sammy Rachels, struggled in his attempt to become the first repeat champion in the $1.4 million tournament's 12-year history. Rachels shot an even-par 72.
LPGA
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Lorena Ochoa has been a model of consistency at the Michelob Light Open, playing 36 holes without a bogey.
Grace Park's two rounds have included 11 birdies, four bogeys, and an eagle followed immediately by a double-bogey.
They ended up in the same place, as co-leaders with a 7-under par 135.
They led by one stroke over Suzann Pettersen, who bogeyed two of her final three holes to give up the lead, and Akiko Fukushima, who birdied two of her final three holes
Cristie Kerr and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc shot 68s and were tied for fifth.
Annika Sorenstam, who began the day tied for sixth at 3-under, shot a 70 and finished tied for seventh, three strokes off the lead.
Play was suspended for about an hour shortly before 6 p.m. due to a thunderstorm.