TUCSON, Ariz. – Scott Verplank shot his second straight 6-under 66 on Saturday to take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Tucson Conquistadores Classic.

The 51-year-old Verplank birdied five of the first six holes and seven of the first 10 in perfect conditions on Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course. He bogeyed the par-3 12th, failing to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker, and closed with six consecutive pars.

“I was really good or really bad with my shots,” Verplank said. “I’m still not hitting it as good as I would like or kind of the way I want to, but I’m hitting enough good ones to overcome it. … Shooting scores, making birdies, always helps your attitude.”

Winless on the senior tour, the five-time PGA Tour champion has fought a series of injuries, and he had a cortisone shot in his shoulder last week. He is diabetic and wears an insulin pump on the course.

“Trying to get committed to playing this tour full time,” Verplank said. “I’m just happy to shoot some good scores. I haven’t been shooting that many good scores in the last several years after all these different surgeries and injuries. It’s always good to make birdies and shoot good scores.”

Jim Carter and Wes Short Jr. were a stroke back.

The 54-year-old Carter shot a 63. He birdied nine of the first 13 holes, making six straight on Nos. 8-13. A former Arizona State player, he won the 2000 PGA Tour event at Tucson National for his lone title.

“I just hit some good shots, kept it in play, made some putts,” Carter said. “I tried not to think too much, at least for me. I try not to think at all. I seem to do better when I’m not thinking.”

The 52-year-old Short tied the tour record for eagles in a round with three in his 65. After birdieing 16 and 17 to reach 13 under, he drove into the water on the par-4 18th and made a double bogey,

“It’s a tough driving hole,” Short said. “I probably should hit 3-wood off that tee. Driver, if I hit it any left, I’m going to go in the water. I should just take my medicine and play it from a little farther back, but sometimes I’m hard-headed.”

Bernhard Langer, defending champion Marco Dawson and first-round leader Woody Austin were tied for fourth at 9 under. Langer, coming off a victory Feb. 14 in Naples, Florida, in the last tour event, had a 66.

Canada’s Stephen Ames had a 67 and sits tied for 7th, 4-shots back at 8-under.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jason Day felt like he was bearing down on each shot. He made it look much easier Friday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Day made a pair of long birdie putts and otherwise put on a clinic at Bay Hill for a 7-under 65 that gave him a two-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend.

“It was great,” he said. “I felt like I couldn’t do anything wrong out there.”

Day was at 13-under 131 and was five shots ahead of Jamie Lovemark (68) when he finished.

Stenson faced a daunting task – eight shots behind when he teed off in the afternoon – and he shot 31 on the back nine for a 66 to stay in the game. Justin Rose also had a 66 and was three shots behind.

“It’s motivating,” Stenson said of the deficit he faced. “You can’t let it be frustrating that you’re eight shots back. He played great, and you’ve just got to go and do the same, and I managed to do that.”

Day, Stenson and Rose will play together Saturday because tee times have been moved forward to avoid the threat of storms.

Rose wasn’t bothered to see Day so far ahead. His objective was to take care of the par 5s and keep a clean card, and he did both. Rose is now 9 under on the eight par 5s he has played this week. And he was bogey-free on Friday.

“Yesterday was a colorful scorecard,” Rose said of an opening round that included two eagles and a double bogey. “Today, a little bit more solid.”

Day was driving it long and straight, hitting his irons well and making big putts. It’s a great combination for anyone, particularly a player who reached No. 1 in the world last year by winning four out of six tournaments, including his first major.

Canada’s David Hearn fired a 5-under 67 to get to 6-under for the championship. The Brantford, Ont., native is 7-shots back of Day and tied for 11th.

Rory McIlroy was able to watch the whole show.

McIlroy, who opened with a 75, was in the group behind Day and saw the Australian start to pull away from the field. McIlroy had his own issues on Friday, starting with a chance to play for two more days. He handled that with ease, making four birdies on the back nine to get above the cut line and posting a 67.

But he was all but ready to concede that the tournament was out of his reach.

“I was looking at Jason in front of me and I was thinking if I could maybe get within six going into the weekend,” McIlroy said. “And now it’s 11. … Even playing well, I’m not sure that’s quite going to be enough that far behind Jason. At the same time I can get confidence from that and bring it on to the next week and ultimately into the Masters.”

Stanford junior Maverick McNealy, chosen to play by his colleagues at the Palmer Cup, had a 71 and was at 4-under 140. It’s the second straight week that an amateur has made the cut; Georgia senior Lee McCoy finished fourth last week in the Valspar Championship.

U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau shot another 72 and made the cut on the number at even-par 144.

Day, however, appeared to be in his own world on the immaculate Bay Hill course.

A pair of two-putt birdies on the par 5s on the back nine helped him extend his lead, and he added a 35-foot birdie putt on the 17th. It was after Day had to scramble for par on the par-5 fourth hole, making a 10-foot putt, that he took off. He rolled in a 10-foot birdie on the next hole, got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie on the par-5 sixth and finished his round with a 35-foot birdie on the ninth hole.

“The total that he’s on now, 13 under, I thought that was going to have a great chance at the end of the week,” McIlroy said. “I thought something around 12 under was going to be right there. For him to do that after two days is pretty spectacular. I think everyone has got their work cut out to try and catch him.”

The timing is good for Day, who had a sluggish start to the year after taking three months off at the end of 2015. He has only Bay Hill and the Dell Match Play next week before the Masters, and he thought it would be helpful to at least feel the pressure of contention before Augusta National.

Stenson could be the guy to provide it.

He thought he had Bay Hill won last year until bogeys late in his round. He was still seven shots back Friday when he made the turn and was close to flawless. Stenson had two-putt birdies on both par 5s, made a 5-foot birdie on the 10th and a 15-foot birdie putt on the 14th. The only green he missed was on the 17th hole, and he finished with a 20-foot birdie on the 18th.

“There’s a lot of intimidating shots,” Stenson said. “You’ve got to be clear on what you want to do and try and execute them well.”

PHOENIX – Sei Young Kim found the afternoon wind merely refreshing on a hot day at Desert Ridge.

“It’s OK,” Kim said Friday after taking a two-stroke lead in the JTBC Founders Cup. “It’s not confusing to me because, if I have a lot of options, I didn’t think about it. I just see a target. It’s simple.”

The 23-year-old South Korean player has made it look simple, following her opening 9-under 63 with a 66 to break the tournament 36-hole record at 15-under 129.

“I feel not bad because, before the first round, I was like uncomfortable because I couldn’t trust myself,” Kim said. “But after this round, I got confidence.”

She made two eagles Friday. On the second, she hammered a 300-yard drive on the par-5 15th, hit a 165-yard, 5-iron approach that nearly bounced into the hole and made a 7-foot putt.

“I wasn’t missing the putt,” Kim said.

On the par-5 second, she ran in a 30-footer after holding the green from 200 yards with a cut 5-wood.

“It was good work,” Kim said.

She won three times last season and was the LPGA Tour’s rookie of the year. At No. 7 in the world, she’s in position for the last of South Korea’s four spots in the Rio Olympics.

Brittany Lang was second after a 68, also in the breezy afternoon.

“It was tough with the wind at times,” Lang said.

The 30-year-old former Duke player won the 2012 Manulife LPGA Classic in Canada for her lone tour title.

“You just have to stay aggressive,” Lang said. “The weather looks great. The course conditions are going to be great. You just have to take good shots, stay aggressive, and get a few putts to fall. Should be a fun weekend. There’s going to be a lot of birdies made. Got to go for it all.”

Jacqui Concolino and Italy’s Giulia Sergas were 12 under. Concolino shot a 64 to match 17-year-old U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Hannah O’Sullivan for the best round of the day. Sergas had a 68.

Sergas is working with Costantino Rocca. The former Italian star is with her in Arizona.

“He’s right there on my side, and I love it,” Sergas said. “We started to work together in January. He’s a wonderful person.”

The cut was at 3 under, one off the tour record set last year in the Manulife. Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, the 2011 and 2014 winner, dropped out along with second-ranked Inbee Park, Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen.

Gerina Piller (68) and Eun-Hee Ji (67) were four strokes back at 11 under. Paula Creamer (65) was another shot behind along with Ryann O’Toole (66), Paula Reto (67), Minjee Lee (69) and Karine Icher (67).

Canada’s Brooke Henderson is 7-under after a 69 on Friday. Fellow Canadians Maude-Aimee LeBlanc and Alena Sharp held a share of 64th at 3 under.

Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak and top-ranked Lydia Ko also were 7 under. Pak shot a 68 a day after saying she will retire at the end of the season. Ko had a 67.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Woody Austin had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Tucson Conquistadores Classic.

Playing his final nine holes after opening on No. 10, the 52-year-old Austin birdied Nos. 2-5 and 7-8 on Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course.

“I basically hit it really close,” Austin said. “I got jump-started, I holed out a bunker shot on 2 for birdie after hitting two really good shots and being dead. I didn’t get my first one out of the bunker, and then I holed the next bunker shot for birdie, which really got me going.

“Then I knocked the flag over for a couple, I hit it about 2 feet on the next hole, then I hit it 8 feet on the next hole, and then I hit it 7 feet on the next hole. And then the par 3, I hit a 5-iron to about 7 feet, and then I hit No. 8 in 2, I only had about a 20-footer for eagle and two-putted.”

Winless in 27 starts on the 50-and-over tour, Austin won the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship at age 49 for the last of his four PGA Tour titles.

“My game today not is indicative,” Austin said. “I haven’t played that good. I usually don’t play very good in the beginning of the year. The benefit I have this week is I took my two boys and their buddy on a golfing trip this past week, so I got in some golf, which I haven’t been able to do. I actually played Pebble Beach on Sunday, Spyglass on Monday, Spanish Bay on Tuesday, so I at last got some golf in before this week, so that was necessary because I haven’t really played that much.”

Scott Verplank and Billy Andrade were a stroke back.

“I kind of kept the ball in play and hit good iron shots, putted pretty solid,” Verplank said. “I hit a couple of tee shots that I wasn’t happy with, but I’ve been hitting a lot of tee shots that I wasn’t happy with. It was a beautiful day and just kind of played like I knew what I was doing.”

The five-time PGA Tour winner has fought a series of injuries.

“I had another cortisone shot in my shoulder last week,” Verplank said. “Just had so many little ailment things, it’s just been hard to get much rhythm. But it’s nice today. I think coming to great weather will help. Hopefully, it will keep going.”

Andrade closed with a bogey on the par-4 18th after hitting within a foot of the water. With both feet in the water, he was able to blast out with a sand wedge.

“I was just hoping and praying that a snake or something wasn’t going to come up and bite me before I hit the shot,” Andrade said. “Last year, same kind of scenario, hit the same kind of drive like that. It’s 300 yards to the water on that line into the wind, so I didn’t think I could get it to the water. Last year, I did and I did it again this year, so, I’m just not very smart, I guess.”

Mark Calcavecchia and Gene Sauers shot 67, and defending champion Marco Dawson was in the group at 68. Bernhard Langer, coming off victory Feb. 14 in Naples, Florida, in the last tour event, opened with a 69. Langer was tied with Canadian Stephen Ames, who was also 3-under.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal will not play in the Masters for health reasons that have kept him from competing for an entire year.

He did not specify his health problems on Friday, only that tests show “some improvement.”

“I am sorry to announce that I’m unable to attend this year as I am not feeling well,” Olazabal said in a statement. “The Masters is very special to me, and walking up Magnolia Lane gives me a peace of mind like nowhere else.”

The 50-year-old Spaniard won the Masters in 1994 and 1999. His second green jacket, which he won over Greg Norman, followed a debilitating ailment in his foot that he feared would end his career. Olazabal is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and he was the winning Ryder Cup captain for Europe four years ago.

But he has not played a tournament since he shot 71 in the second round at the Masters a year ago and missed the cut.

“It’s been very tough being at home these last few months doing nothing,” Olazabal said. “Now I’m feeling better. I hit a bucket of balls every morning and spend 45 minutes on the putting green. I practice for about three hours. I don’t set myself goals or dates. Time will tell.”

Olazabal said he has regular tests that show improvement, “but the main thing is to get rid of pain.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jason Day felt he was playing better. He finally had a score to show for it Thursday at Bay Hill.

Day one-putted his last seven holes, including a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th to take the lead and two tough par saves at the end for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Among those one shot behind was Adam Scott, which was no surprise. Scott is the hottest player in golf, coming off two straight victories at the Honda Classic and the Cadillac Championship at Doral, and he played bogey-free in benign weather and on a course where no blade of grass seems to be out of place.

Day hasn’t played enough to have serious problems with his game, though he missed the cut at Torrey Pines and finished a combined 35 shots out of the lead in the other three tournaments he entered this year. In the five tournaments since his last victory in September, he hasn’t finished within seven shots of the lead.

“There was no sense of urgency at all for me, really,” Day said. “I just kept on saying, ‘Just make sure you stay patient and things will happen, it will happen.’ I just got to make sure I get the reps under my belt and hope it will work. This is one good round, one good round in the right direction. … So that helps.”

Rory McIlroy made a pair of double bogeys and opened with a 75, leaving him in danger of missing his second straight cut against a full field.

He hit his opening tee shot out-of-bounds and made his other double bogey with a shot into the water on No. 8. McIlroy hit two other shots into the water and escaped with par, and he made par putts of 10 feet, 15 feet and 25 feet.

“It probably could have been a few worse,” McIlroy said. “I end up shooting this. I’ll get some good work done on the range tonight and come out tomorrow and play a good round of golf to get myself into the red numbers, at least be here for the weekend (and) I can make a charge.”

Henrik Stenson, Marc Leishman, Brendan Steele and Troy Merritt also were at 67. The group at 68 included the resurgent K.J. Choi and Justin Rose, who made two eagles.

Canada’s Adam Hadwin was a shot back after a 69, while compatriot David Hearn opened with a 71. The pair are the only Canadians in the field this week.

Day doesn’t have a great history in his limited time at Bay Hill. Going into Thursday, he had broken 70 only three times in 14 rounds, nothing lower than 68. He only had one bad swing, a tee shot that soared right and out of bounds on the ninth hole for a double bogey. But he played the last seven holes in 5 under, including the 6-iron he hit to within 10 feet on 16.

Equally satisfying were the par saves from the bunker on the par-3 17th, where he blasted out to 5 feet, and a par on the final hole when he chipped to 10 feet.

Day has Bay Hill and the Dell Match Play next week before preparing for the Masters.

“I’m just trying to win a tournament right now,” Day said. “I’m really thinking about this week and not trying to think about too far ahead with what’s coming up with the Match Play and obviously Augusta. It’s good to shoot the score that I did today because it does a lot for my confidence, and I’m just hoping that I can keep it going for the next three days after this.”

Scott wasn’t sure if he hit the ball badly, or it just seemed like that because the way he has been playing.

“I hit so many good shots the last few weeks,” he said. “Didn’t hit terribly bad shots today. My short game was there. That’s the kind of days you’re almost most satisfied with are days like today when you shoot your lowest.”

But he doesn’t suspect that will last, especially with the course in such great shape and so many scores in the 60s.

“On one day, that’s OK,” he said. “But I’m going to have to sharpen up, I think, to contend this week. The course is so pure, conditions are really good. Someone who is hitting it good is going to make a lot of putts because the greens are rolling pure. If you can get it inside 20 feet you’re feeling like you’re going to make everything.”

PHOENIX – Mi Hyang Lee shot a tournament-record 10-under 62 on Thursday in the JTBC Founders Cup after playing her first nine holes in 9 under.

On a day when fellow South Korean player Se Ri Pak announced she will retire at the end of the season, Lee threatened to shoot the second 59 in LPGA Tour history after opening with an eagle and seven birdies on the back nine.

Needing to play the front nine in 4 under to break 60, Lee made only one more birdie – on the par-5 fifth.

Annika Sorenstam is the only player to shoot 59 in an LPGA Tour event, accomplishing the feat in 2001 at nearby Moon Valley.

Lee matched the nine-hole record of 9 under set by Amy Yang last year in South Korea.

Sei Young Kim and Brittany Lang shot 63.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson shot an opening-round 68. Fell Canadians Alena Sharp and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc had mating 1-over 73s.

SHIPPAGAN, NB – Darren Ritchie of St. John is one of six new members who will be inducted into New Brunswick’s Sports Hall of Fame June 4, 2016.

“These dedicated, sports-minded New Brunswickers are being recognized for athletic excellence and leadership in promoting active living in our province,” said Tourism, Culture and Heritage Minister Bill Fraser. “Their commitment to sport inspires individuals and families to take part in physical activities in their communities for better health, improved quality of life and a stronger province.”

Ritchie is the first and only Maritimer to win the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship (1992). His match play victory over Mike Weir was made even more impressive by the fact that he had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma just three months prior to competing. From 1990 – 1992 Ritchie placed either first or second during twelve provincial golfing competitions.

Ritchie and the other five members will join the hall when it holds its induction ceremony at Centre des congrès de la Péninsule acadienne de Shippagan on June 4. The inductees will bring the total number of honourees to 249.

“We are proud to announce that these 5 distinguished athletes and 1 sports builder are to be inducted into the hall of fame,” said Clem Tremblay, chair of the hall’s board of governors.

The other inductees are Patty Blanchard (running); David Foley (soccer); Kevin Foran (hockey); Bernard DeGrâce (officiating) and Eldridge Eatman (running).

For more info, visit www.nbsportshalloffame.com.

TORONTO – St. George’s Golf and Country Club announced Jason Clarke as its new Chief Operating Officer, effective May 16, 2016. Clarke previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club since 2012.

Designed by Stanley Thompson in 1929, St. George’s underwent an extensive restoration of its greens in 2014 led by consulting golf course architects, Tom Doak and Ian Andrew.

“St. George’s Golf and Country Club is a Canadian gem. I am honoured and thrilled to be a part of this venerable Club,” said Clarke. “St. George’s delivers world-class services and I look forward to working with the Board, the Members and the Management Team to enhance the member experience.”

Jason’s previous management experience includes holding the COO/GM position at Toronto Lawn Tennis Club and General Manager at the Manitoba Club and the Halifax Club.