Robbins’ Putting Gives Her Lead in du Maurier Open

Statistics say Kelly Robbins is a long hitter, one of the longest on the LPGA Tour. The numbers also show accuracy off the tee and a deft touch on the greens.

It was her putting skill that helped Robbins shoot an 8-under-par 65 on Friday for a two-shot lead midway through the du Maurier Classic, the last of the LPGA’s four major tournaments.

Robbins has a two-stroke lead at 136 over Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann, who shot 67 in the second tour of Jack Nicklaus-designed Glen Abbey Golf Club’s 6,367-yard course at Oakville, Canada.

Juli Inkster shot a 69 and was alone at 139.

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Despite a painful left knee, Kermit Zarley held a two-stroke lead after a 6-under-par 66--his best round of the year--in the Bank of Boston Senior PGA Golf Classic.

Zarley, 55, had a bogey-free round at the 6,797-yard Nashawtuc Country Club course in Concord, Mass.

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Phil Mickelson set a tournament record to take the early second-round lead in the weather-delayed Sprint International at Castle Rock, Colo.

Mickelson has 27 points in the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event--three better than the previous record set by Dan Pohl in 1992.

Play was suspended by darkness with 45 golfers still on the course. Those players will complete their second rounds this morning.

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Individual medalist Jason Gore led the three-man Southern California Golf Assn. team to a 12-shot victory in the 31st Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at Makena Golf Club’s South Course in Maui.

Gore’s individual title marked the first time since 1973 that a golfer has won the California Amateur, California Open and Pacific Coast Amateur championships the same year.

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Beth Bauer, of Valrico, Fla., and Candie Kung of Fountain Valley, won two matches each to advance to the final of the 49th U.S. Girls Junior Championship at Franklin, Tenn.