GOLF Woods surges to lead

He will be joined today by his tour buddy, Mark O'Meara.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRVING, Texas -- The position atop the leaderboard should be familiar to Tiger Woods. So should the company he'll be keeping at the Byron Nelson Championship.
Woods sprinkled in a few birdies with some solid par saves for a 3-under 67 on Friday at cool, blustery Cottonwood Valley and took a one-shot lead for the second week in a row. The surprise is who will join him on the first tee this afternoon -- 47-year-old Mark O'Meara, his best buddy on tour.
Instead of a practice round at a major championship or a casual round at Isleworth when they're home in Florida, they will be in the final group of a $5.8 million tournament that means something to both for different reasons.
Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, has come under severe scrutiny for a game that has produced only one victory this year and no majors in his last seven tries.
O'Meara, who had a 4-under 66, has not won on the PGA Tour since the '98 British Open and is playing this year on a one-time exemption for being in the top 25 in career money. Even though he won earlier this year in the Dubai Desert Classic -- a field that included Woods and Ernie Els -- there is no substitute for winning at home.
Woods was at 8-under 132, his best start at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship since a 64-64 in 1997 when he won.
LPGA
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- Lorena Ochoa shot a 5-under 67 Friday and shared a one-stroke lead with Pat Hurst in the weather-delayed second round of the Franklin American Mortgage championship.
Play was called because of darkness Friday night with 16 golfers still on the course.
Last week, Ochoa finished tied for second, two strokes behind winner Se Ri Pak despite sharing the third-round lead at the Michelob Ultra Open. The native of Mexico said she learned she must be aggressive instead of cautiously protecting of her lead.
"I need to try and go for it, go straight for the pin and make a lot of birdies out there. Last week, I played a little bit too conservatively in the last round," said Ochoa, the 2003 rookie of the year who is looking for her first career victory.