Funk, Johnson sharing Buick Tournament lead



Jill McGill took a three-stroke lead in the LPGA's Wachovia Classic.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CROMWELL, Conn. -- About the only thing Fred Funk and Zach Johnson have in common is the lead at the Buick Championship.
Ryder Cup member Funk is a 16-year PGA Tour veteran with five wins, while Johnson is a rookie with one title. Each used accurate shots and very few mistakes to share a one-stroke and will be paired together in today's third round.
It's not their first pairing. They played with Jack Nicklaus at the Memorial in May. That's where Funk realized that Johnson is no ordinary rookie.
"They're just so much more seasoned than when I came out on tour," Funk said. "They're not scared of anything. Sometimes their minds get in the way, but I don't see Zach as one of those players. He just has the total game."
Johnson shot a 5-under 65 and Funk had a 66 to move to 8-under-par 132 for the tournament, one better than Hank Kuehne (65). First-round leader Corey Pavin and Jose Coceres are two strokes back. A group of six golfers are three strokes behind the leaders.
Johnson, the Nationwide Tour player of the year in 2003, won the BellSouth Classic in March for his first PGA Tour title. He hit all 14 fairways and had seven one-putts in the round Friday. After two days, he's been the most accurate in the tournament, hitting 27 of 28 fairways.
"Any time you start hitting your driver well, 3-wood well off the tee box, you feel like you can do something," Johnson said.
Johnson is aiming to become the second rookie this year to win two events in one season and only the 11th since 1970. He counts his pairing with Funk and Nicklaus as one of the highlights of his career.
"That was two of the best days of my golfing career," he said. "[Funk's] just laid back and easygoing. But playing with Jack was unbelievable."
LPGA
KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Jill McGill shot an 8-under-par 64 Friday to take a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the Wachovia LPGA Classic.
McGill, a nine-year LPGA Tour veteran looking for her first victory, birdied six of seven holes from the eighth through 14th for a tournament 36-hole record 14-under 130, four strokes better than the previous mark set by Moira Dunn in 2001.
Soo-Yun Kang (66) and Suzann Pettersen (63) were three strokes back at 11-under 133. Shi Hyun Ahn (67) and Grace Park (66) are another stroke back at 10 under, while McGill's first round co-leaders Hilary Lunke (69) and Laura Diaz (69) are tied with Lorena Ochoa (68) at 135.
The 32-year-old McGill has tried to put less pressure on herself, keeping her life and golf in perspective.
"A lot of my friends have kids now, and you just kind of realize that, you know what, stuff isn't so big," she said after joking about job-hunting at fast-food restaurants. "You see them with their kids and you just realize that [golf] is not the end-all.
"As long as you're enjoying yourself and trying, that's all you can ask for."
A couple of fortunate bounces helped, too.
McGill groaned in disgust after leaving her tee shot on the par-3 12th short and right of the pin. But she made a 20-foot uphill putt for birdie.
On the next hole, the longest par-5 at Berkleigh Country Club, she put her tee shot into the rough, hit a 7-wood into the right rough and then dropped her third shot 3 feet from the pin to set up another birdie.
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