Par Is Good for Mallon

With the wind gusting and the thick, tangly rough holding tight any ball that strayed, Meg Mallon shot an even-par 72 Friday and held on to her one-stroke lead in the U.S. Women’s Open at Gurnee, Ill.

The conditions made it nearly impossible for anyone to make a run at Mallon, who is at four-under 140 after 36 holes, and most players struggled just to stay close to par.

“Par is your friend in the U.S. Open,” said Karrie Webb, who trails Mallon by one stroke. “Anything better is just a bonus.”

There weren’t many people getting bonuses Friday at the Merit Club. Of the 78 players who teed off in the morning, only four managed to shoot better than par. Dorothy Delasin, the 1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, had the best round of the day, a four-under 68 that left her at even-par 144.

Mallon, the 1991 Women’s Open champion, caused a stir Thursday when she avoided water and sand on the difficult 14th hole by playing the 13th fairway. She played it straight Friday, narrowly missing the water when her ball skirted the edge, but ended up with par.

She salvaged par for the day with a birdie on 18 after chipping from the back edge of the fringe to within a couple feet of the hole.

Webb and Betsy King are a stroke back at 141. Webb shot a 72 and King, playing in her 25th Women’s Open, had a 70.

Christie Kerr is at 143, with defending champion Juli Inkster, Kathryn Marshall and Delasin among a group of six at 144.

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The day’s largest gallery at the Instinet Classic came to follow Arnold Palmer and, in the process, got to see defending champion Tom Jenkins take the lead at Princeton, N.J.

Jenkins, grouped with Palmer and Jay Sigel, shot a course-record seven-under 65 at the TPC at Jasna Polana to take a two-stroke lead over Jerry McGee, Gil Morgan and Jim Ferree.

Jenkins broke the course record of 67, set by Bill Whaley of Cromwell, Conn.

Palmer, 70, began his 1,000th official PGA Tour-Senior PGA Tour event with a 71.

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Esteban Toledo shot a five-under 67 to stay in front of the field after two rounds in the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y. Coupled with his opening 64, Toledo was at 13-under 131, three shots ahead of defending champion Brad Faxon and Canada’s Glen Hnatiuk.

Another shot back were Brian Gay, Scott McCarron and Dick Mast, who bogeyed his first hole of the day before rallying with two eagles to finish with a sizzling 64.

Jerry Kelly had a 63 that included a record-tying eight birdies on the front nine. He was at seven under.

Play was delayed 3 1/2 hours by a midafternoon rainstorm and suspended at darkness with 30 players still on the course. They will complete their rounds this morning. Among those were McCarron with three holes to play and Hnatiuk with two.