Crane weathers the bad weather

Ben Crane weathered the rain delay the best.

Crane, who was atop the leaderboard when thunderstorms interrupted the first round of the U.S. Bank Championship Thursday in Milwaukee, continued his birdie bombardment on Brown Deer Park after a nearly 5-hour delay.

His 8-under 62 made him the clubhouse leader when play was suspended for the day at 6:30 p.m., after a second rain delay of about an hour. Ninety-three golfers in the field of 156 were still on the course – or waiting to tee off.

They were to resume the first round at 7 a.m. today, weather permitting, with the second round to start 4 hours later.

Crane was 4 under when the horn sounded just as he made the turn at 10:05 a.m.

“I just went back to the hotel, laid down and relaxed,” Crane said. “I came back and went through my regular routine. It worked out well.”

Kenny Perry, the 2003 winner, shot a 63 and Chris Smith, Jeff Sluman and Jerry Kelly all had 64s on the par-70 course that is one of the shortest on the PGA Tour at 6,759 yards.

Lightning and high winds forced golfers to retreat to the clubhouse or their cars at midmorning and they didn’t resume their rounds for 4 hours, 43 minutes.

The second wave of players didn’t begin teeing off until 3 p.m., just as some of the early threesomes were signing their scorecards, and a second round of hard rain halted play again at 5:25 p.m.

When play was suspended for the day, 63 golfers had finished their rounds, 78 were still on the course and 15 were waiting to tee off.

This was the 14th event out of 31 tour stops this year to be affected by bad weather.

LPGA

Annika Sorenstam shot a 6-under 66 to climb into contention at the Evian (France) Masters, two strokes behind second-round leaders Paula Creamer and Christina Kim.

Creamer and Kim each shot 4-under 68s and share the lead at 8-under 136. Sorenstam stood alone in second at 6 under, with Laura Davies and Carin Koch another stroke back.

Michelle Wie, a 15-year-old amateur from Hawaii, shot a 70 after a first-round 75, and remains nine shots back at 1 over.

Davies shot 70 and Koch carded 73. Lorena Ochoa had a 69 and Karrie Webb shot 70, putting them four strokes behind.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot 73 for a two-round total of 148.

Champions Tour

Loren Roberts made his Champions Tour debut with a 1-over 72 at Royal Aberdeen (Scotland) to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Senior British Open in.

Roberts, who turned 50 on June 24, overcame some uncharacteristic three-putts and the strong North Sea wind that blew across the course and kept anyone from breaking par.

“I made some three-putts today, which I don’t normally do,” said Roberts. “But all in all, I made some good putts today.”

He made six birdies to offset five bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 ninth for a one-shot lead over Craig Stadler, Des Smyth and four others. Former Ryder Cup captain Mark James of England was at 74.

Junior amateur

Bob Tway’s son beat Arnold Palmer’s grandson in a second-round match and won his next match 3 and 1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in Longmeadow, Mass.

Kevin Tway, son of the 1986 PGA champion, defeated medalist Sam Saunders, Palmer’s grandson, 4 and 3. In the third round, the 16-year-old Tway eliminated Russell Henley of Macon, Ga., 3 and 1.

Defending champion Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif., lost in 19 holes in the third round to Philip Francis of Scottsdale, Ariz.

“U.S. Women’s Open runner-up Morgan Pressel lost in the third round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur in Eagle, Idaho, the second time in a month the 17-year-old was beaten by an opponent’s late chip.

Pressel, who finished second at the Women’s Open on June 26 after Birdie Kim chipped in from a greenside bunker, was eliminated Thursday when Juliana Murcia Ortiz of Columbia chipped in from 40 feet on the first extra hole.

LPGA denies 15-year-old

The LPGA turned down a 15-year-old girl who wanted a chance to qualify for a spot on the women’s tour in 2006.

Carmen Bandea, who lives with her parents in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth, Ga., asked outgoing LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw to waive the requirement that a golfer must be 18 to become a tour member.

In a letter, Votaw cited the teenager’s lack of tournament experience for denying her request to enter qualifying school this fall.

Undeterred, Bandea said she’ll ask Carolyn Bivens, who succeeds Votaw at the end of the year, to give the request another look. In the meantime, she plans to turn pro on the Hooters Tour, a minor league men’s circuit which has many events within driving distance of her home.