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Golf Roundup: Els beats weather for CA lead by 1
Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ernie Els was in the lead and off the golf course, and he wasn't certain which made him feel better.

Rushing to finish as dark clouds gathered over the Blue Monster in Doral, Fla., Els made one last birdie for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead over Robert Allenby before heavy rain temporarily halted play Friday in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

Eighteen players had to wait nearly three hours before they could resume the second round. When it finally ended, Els had his first lead after any round on U.S. soil since he won the Honda Classic two years ago.

"It's in the books, and we were pretty lucky to get done," he said. "We ran the last two holes just to get in the house."

He was at 10-under 134, courtesy of three consecutive birdies early in his round, when his shot-making was supreme, and he held it together when the wind and weather changed quickly and dramatically.

Els was standing over his tee shot on the par-3 fourth when he felt a gust, not unusual except that this one felt cold.

"I'm just about to pull the club back and I just felt this chill come over. And I thought, 'What's going on here?' And the wind just changed right there," he said.

He came up short of the green and scrambled for par.

Allenby was tied for the lead until a three-putt from 50 feet in rain so strong he could barely see the flag. The bogey gave him a 67 and will put him in the final group today with Els.

Other tournaments

• Puerto Rico Open: Skip Kendall was in the lead at 5 under after nine holes in the rain-delayed first round in Rio Grande. Play was suspended in the event because of darkness.

• Women's Australian Open: Italy's Giulia Sergas shot a 4-under 69 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round in Melbourne. Sergas has a two-round total of 7-under 139. Two South Koreans are tied for second -- Choi He-yong (69) and Yang Soo-jin (72).

Note

• The ambulance crew that responded after Tiger Woods crashed his SUV would not allow his wife to ride with him to the hospital because they suspected domestic violence, documents released by the Florida Highway Patrol show. But a police officer who responded said he didn't know where the crew got that information because he never heard it from anyone at the scene. The reports also showed Woods' wife, Elin, turned over two bottles of pain pills to troopers after the Nov. 27 crash outside the couple's suburban Orlando, Fla., home.

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First published on March 13, 2010 at 12:00 am