WILMINGTON, N.C. — Once the rain finally stopped, the wind took over Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Billy Hurley III and Seamus Power of Ireland did their best to figure out the strong gusts and wound up atop a tight leaderboard at the end of a long day.
The second round started three hours late because of a violent storm that dumped nearly 2 inches of rain on Eagle Point, forcing 65 players to return Saturday morning to complete the round.
Hurley hit a 4-iron from 174 yards that came up 15 yards short on the 18th hole, but he got up-and-down to cap a strong finish for a 3-under 69.
Power shot a 71 and joined Hurley at 5-under 139.
John Peterson’s last hole was a birdie on the par-5 12th hole. He was at 5 under. Francesco Molinari of Italy, who opened with a 66, also was at 5 under and had seven holes remaining.
Seven players were just one shot back, and 12 others were two behind. A total of 57 players were within five shots of the lead.
Dustin Johnson, in his first tournament since a slip down the stairs knocked him out of the Masters, opened with a tough par save and a birdie to get within two shots of the lead until dropping shots on a pair of par 3s. He ended with a third bogey on No. 13 and was 2 over for his round, five shots out of the lead, with five holes remaining.
LPGA: Ariya Jutanugarn won a sister showdown in the Lorena Ochoa Match Play tournament, and Lydia Ko, Michelle Wie and Cristie Kerr also advanced in Mexico City.
The third-ranked Jutanugarn edged her older sister, Moriya, 2 up in the second round.
She will face Pernilla Lindberg in the round of 16 in the event that switched from stroke to match play and moved from November to April.
Ko beat Jennifer Song 1 up to guarantee staying No. 1 in the world.
Wie topped Laura Gonzalez Escallon 3 and 2, and Kerr beat Jenny Shin 4 and 3. Kerr won three weeks ago in Hawaii and lost to Haru Nomura on Sunday on the sixth hole of a playoff in Texas.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tom Lehman shot an 8-under 64 to take the first-round lead in the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands, Texas.
Kirk Triplett and 63-year-old Jay Haas were tied for second at 67. John Daly, Mark Brooks, Russ Cochran and Paul Goydos were another shot back.
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