GOLF ROUNDUP : Bartholomew Bolts to Lead in Open

What the heck, thought Jean Bartholomew. If no one else wants to win the 50th U.S. Women’s Open, why not me?

With her competition collapsing around her, the unheralded Bartholomew carded nine pars in a row Friday to claim the lead, at least temporarily, in the lightning-delayed second round of the Open at Colorado Springs, Colo.

Bartholomew, 28, a veteran of the European and Japanese tours, was three under par through 13 holes of her second round when darkness halted play.

Seven players were one stroke behind, and all had finished their rounds.

In the clubhouse at 2-under 138 were Tammie Green, first-round leader Jill Briles-Hinton, Pat Bradley, Annika Sorenstam, Dawn Coe-Jones, Dale Eggeling and LPGA Tour rookie Leta Lindley.

Green shot a 70 Friday, and Briles-Hinton had a 72. Bradley and Sorenstam both had 71s, while Coe-Jones, who is six months pregnant with her first child, had a 70. Eggeling and Lindley both shot 68s.

Bartholomew and 26 others were to conclude their rounds this morning, beginning at 6:45 a.m.

“It was a long day, a test of your patience,” Bartholomew said. “The pin positions were tougher today, and I was just praying for pars.”

At mid-afternoon, play was stopped for 1 hour, 45 minutes because of lightning, with about half the field still on the course.

Only Bartholomew, a 1989 graduate of Duke who entered this tournament with low expectations, survived the subtle terrors of the Broadmoor East course.

“It’s nice to know I can play at the level of these girls who play the tour full time,” said Bartholomew, the 1988 New York state amateur champion from Garden City, N.Y.

LPGA Hall of Famer JoAnne Carner had an even-par 70, but at 149 appeared almost certain of missing the cut for the first time in 26 Open appearances. The projected cut was at 7-over 147.

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Jim Gallagher Jr., one of the rising stars on the PGA Tour, moved to the top of leader board after two rounds of the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic at Williamsburg, Va.

Gallagher shot a six-under-par 65, matching the best score of the first two rounds, to reach the halfway point of the $1.1-million event at eight-under 134.

Blaine McCallister’s 67 and Jim Carter’s 69 left them one stroke off the lead.

Gallagher, who made a 12-foot birdie putt on 18, separated from a pack at five under with an eagle on No. 15. He sank a sand wedge from 20 feet.

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Australia’s Wayne Riley fought off bitterly cold, blustery conditions at Carnoustie, Scotland, to shoot a three-under-par 69 and take a five-stroke lead after three rounds of the Scottish Open.

Nick Faldo is second at 209 after shooting a 70.

Colin Montgomerie, who started the day as the co-leader with Riley, shot a 75 and dropped back to third at 210.

Tiger Woods, the 19-year-old U.S. amateur champion, also had a 75 for 215.