Lehman leads by a stroke

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Frost delayed a round and stranded players at the Phoenix Open for the third straight year without affecting the question of who's in control.

That would be Tom Lehman, whose cool mastery of the game carried him to a one-shot lead after the second round.

''I'm really hitting all the shots that I want to hit,'' Lehman said Friday after shooting a 4-under-par 67. Coupled with his sparkling 63 in the first round, it left him at 12-under 130 and headed into the weekend with a one-stroke lead on Frank Lickliter.

''If I want to draw the ball, I'm able to draw it; if I want to fade it, I'm able to fade it,'' Lehman went on. ''And my putting stroke feels really comfortable.''

Lickliter also was happy about his play after a second-round 64.

''I'm driving it better, hitting it better, more patient on the golf course,'' Lickliter said. ''I'm more aggressive when I need to be or when I can be. I'm more patient as far as hitting the ball in the middle of the green when the pins don't particularly suit me.''

Hal Sutton, Robert Allenby and Bradley Hughes were four shots off the pace at 134, with Steve Flesch and Stewart Cink one shot behind them.

But Phil Mickelson, who won the Phoenix four years ago and shared the first-round lead with Lehman, shot 73 and backed into a five-way tie at 136 with Tom Pernice Jr., Kenny Perry, Paul Stankowski and 1993 champion Lee Janzen.

Frost delayed the start for 30 minutes, and darkness forced the suspension of play with 21 players still on the course.

That kept the PGA from announcing the cut pending completion of the round this morning.

It was projected at 142, with 65 players who finished the round already there or lower and another 16 shooting par or better with a few holes to go.

Rocco Mediate (137), the defending champion, 1998 winner Jesper Parnevik (138) and 1997 Phoenix medalist Steve Jones (139) easily qualified to play the weekend.

Paul Azinger, the 1987 Phoenix winner and the winner two weeks ago in Honolulu, was in danger of missing the cut after rounds of 76 and 70.

So were noted newcomers Sergio Garcia and Gary Nicklaus, son of Jack Nicklaus, who were at 146.

Lehman's approach shots were uncanny. He had birdie putts of 8, 10 and 10 feet on Nos. 2, 3 and 5, birdied No. 10 from four feet and got his fifth birdie on the 13th hole with an 8-foot putt.

At the 14th hole, he made his only bogey of the tournament after lofting an 8-iron to the back of the green, leaving the chip five feet short and missing the par putt.

''I definitely feel like I'm in great position,'' said Lehman, who won $1 million in the Williams World Challenge on Jan. 2 and tied for sixth in Honolulu, his only official PGA event before this week.

Lickliter, who shot a career-low 62 in a round at Honolulu, had five birdies and an easy eagle-3 on the 501-yard 15th hole, where he dropped a 3-iron approach within 3 1/2 feet.