16 May 2004	Sunday	25 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

IRVING, May 15: Tiger Woods moved into a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Byron Nelson Championship on Friday after shooting a three-under-par 67 that left the world number one on eight-under 132.

Woods, playing on the Cottonwood Valley Golf Course, carded four birdies and one bogey to hold a slim advantage over his friend Mark O'Meara in the two-course event.

O'Meara, who won the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this season on the European Tour but is without a PGA Tour victory since the 1998 British Open, shot a bogey-free 66 on the same course as Woods.

Spain's Sergio Garcia, playing at the TPC at Four Seasons, climbed into a share of third place on 134 with Sweden's Daniel Chopra, Jerry Kelly, Jonathan Byrd and first-round co-leader Peter Lonard of Australia.

Woods had another very good day on the greens, needing just 26 putts, and continues to lead the field in putts-per-round with an average of 25.0.

Woods actually fared worse at Cottonwood Valley, considered the easier of the two courses in use for the opening two rounds, than he did in his 65 at the TPC at Four Seasons on Thursday.

The steady 15-mph winds and 70-degree Fahrenheit temperature played their part in the higher score.

Defending champion and world number two Vijay Singh of Fiji continued his run of good form to jump into a tie for eighth on 135 with Australia's Stephen Leaney and US PGA champion Shaun Micheel.

Five of the top six players in the world rankings are in the field this week.

In addition to Woods and Singh, world number three Ernie Els of South Africa is on one-under 139, while Canada's Mike Weir, the world number six, is one shot better on 138.

U.S. Masters champion Phil Mickelson, the world's fifth-ranked player, slipped to a two-over 72 at Cottonwood Valley and missed the cut, which came on even-par 140, by one shot.

Mickelson bogeyed the 17th hole, then could muster only a par at the closing hole.

Leading second round scores (US unless stated):

132 - Tiger Woods 65, 67.

133 - Mark O'Meara 67, 66.

134 - Sergio Garcia (Spain) 66, 68; Daniel Chopra (Sweden) 66, 68; Jerry Kelly 66, 68; Jonathan Byrd 67, 67; Peter Lonard (Australia) 64, 70.

135 - Stephen Leaney (Australia) 66, 69; Shaun Micheel 67, 68; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 68, 67.

136 - Greg Chalmers (Australia) 68, 68; Robert Allenby (Australia) 69, 67; Dudley Hart 65, 71; Robert Damron 67, 69; Kevin Durkin 66, 70; Deane Pappas (South Africa) 67, 69; Brandt Snedeker 70, 66.

137 - Jay Williamson 66, 71; Steve Lowery 68, 69; Cameron Beckman 70, 67; Zach Johnson 68, 69; Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 66, 71; Scott Verplank 71, 66; Todd Fischer 70, 67; Neal Lancaster 70, 67; Harrison Frazar 68, 69; Kevin Na 71, 66; Tjaart van der Walt (South Africa) 69, 68; Tom Carter 68, 69; Jay Delsing 69, 68.

SIX-SHOT ADVANTAGE

SHANGHAI: Britain's Simon Dyson extended his lead over the Asian Open field to six shots after a record-equalling third round 66 on Saturday.

The 26-year-old, who shot the same score on Thursday to set the course record and who has led throughout, moved to 15 under par.

Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, Dyson's playing partner, and Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng were both tied at nine-under in second.

The Englishman completed the front nine in 30 shots, the lowest of the tournament, after hitting six birdies, five of them in a row to the ninth.

Greg Norman had less good fortune. He was disqualified after making an illegal drop by a water hazard on the 17th hole after a wayward tee shot.

France's Jean-Francois Lucquin was in fourth at eight under after carding a 70 while China's Zhang Lian-wei, Irishman Paul McGinley and Australian Adam Groom were seven under.

Leading third round scores (Britain unless stated):

201 - Simon Dyson 66, 69, 66.

207 - Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand) 67, 73, 67; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 71, 66, 70.

208 - Jean-Francois Lucquin (France) 72, 66, 70.

209 - Zhang Lian-Wei (China) 70, 69, 70; Adam Groom (Australia) 69, 69, 71; Paul McGinley (Ireland) 68, 69, 72.

210 - Des Terblanche (South Africa) 71, 72, 67; Alex Cejka (Germany) 68, 70, 72.

211 - K.J. Choi (South Korea) 67, 73, 71.

212 - Marcus Both (Australia) 68, 71, 73; Chen Yuan-Chi (Taiwan) 74, 71, 67; Jyoti Randhawa (India) 70, 74, 68; Jeev Mikha Singh (India) 71, 71, 70.-Reuters