Daly, Holmes lead by one shot

Naples:

A birdie putt with the final shot of their day moved John Daly and JB Holmes to the top of the leaderboard at Greg Norman's 'Shark Shootout' event on Saturday at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. The pair shot a 62 in the better-ball second round to move one stroke ahead of the Jerry Kelly and Rod Pampling and Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank pairings. Annika Sorenstam, the first female player in the tournament, and her partner Fred Couples shot a 67 and sit in last place before the 12 teams will finish the Merrill Lynch-sponsored event with a scramble on Sunday. The second round of the Merril Lynch Shootout took place Saturday at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. The day's scoring format was better-ball, so the top shot from either partner was the one that counted. Nick Faldo made this a long birdie on the 11th hole as he found his touch on the greens with partner Greg Norman - the founder of this 'Shark Shootout' tournament. After an opening 72, they scored 65 on the day but sit well back in 11th place overall - 12 shots off the lead. Jerry Kelly got to sit back and watch his partner Rod Pampling birdie the ninth. Pampling was a late stand-in for Kelly's intended partner Peter Jacobsen, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Easy birdie Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam, the first female player in this competition, made this nice birdie on the 17th to help bolster a poor round from her and partner Fred Couples. The duo are in last place, 13 strokes behind the leaders. Speaking of the leaders, John Daly and JB Holmes got off to a good start. Daly's tee shot on the par-three eighth set up an easy birdie, one of several in the round for the pair. The defending champions John Huston and Kenny Perry also had a solid round capped with Perry's sublime approach on the final hole. They combined for the day's top round of 61. Huston and Perry still finished three strokes behind Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank. It would have been four strokes but Verplank's pitch at the 14th shaved the cup. JJ Henry had no problems sinking this putt on the 16th. Henry sank one of the longest putts on the day for birdie - he and partner Brad Faxon trail the leaders by six. Those overnight leaders were Daly and Holmes, who moved to the top of the leaderboard with this long birdie putt by Holmes on the final hole. They will go into Sunday's scramble scoring one stroke ahead of Kelly and Pampling and Leonard and Verplank respectively. (AP)