GOLF ROUNDUP : Nicklaus on the Move as Rain Suspends Play

Jim Colbert and Rocky Thompson were in the clubhouse at five-under-par 139 when a thunderstorm halted Friday’s second round of the Senior Players Championship at Dearborn, Mich.

Thompson shot a 71 and Colbert matched par 72.

An inch of rain fell in an hour on the TPC of Michigan golf course, and two hours later officials suspended play. Thirty-nine players, half the field, faced a 6:30 a.m. restart this morning to complete the second round.

When the horn sounded to halt play, first-round co-leader Jim Albus was six under after 13 holes and Bob Charles, the other first-round leader, was four under after 12 holes.

Jack Nicklaus, who started the day one shot off the lead, was at five under after nine holes.

“I’m looking at a 20-foot putt for par when I go back out to finish the 10th,� Nicklaus said. “I’m not real sure I want to handle that at 6:30 in the morning.�

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Corey Pavin used precise iron shots and ideal morning conditions to shoot a five-under-par 65 and take a two-stroke lead midway through the Greater Hartford Open at Cromwell, Conn.

Wind gusting to 20 m.p.h. in the afternoon kept late starters from making a strong run at Pavin, who completed 36 holes at 132, eight under for two rounds over the 6,280-yard TPC at River Highlands.

Keith Clearwater shot 68 to gain a share of second place at 134 with Mike Springer.

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Shelley Hamlin, off the women’s tour two years ago when she battled breast cancer, shot a four-under-par 67 to share the first-round lead in the $450,000 ShopRite LPGA Classic at Somers Point, N.J.

Defending champion Anne-Marie Palli and Brandie Burton also had 67s, and Sherri Steinhauer was one shot off the lead.

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Pacific Grove’s Casey Boyns defeated Lodi’s Joey Ferrari, 2 and 1, in a 36-hole match at Pebble Beach to win his second California Golf Assn. Championship.

Boyns, the ninth player to win medalist honors and the championship in the same year, was down two holes after nine but closed the gap to a single hole after 18, and was two ahead with nine holes to play.

Ferrari closed the gap to one hole before Boyns saved a par from the bunker on the 35th hole. Ferrari missed a par putt from six feet.