Golf: Ben Crane still leads St. Jude amid weather delays

Golf • Four-shot lead gives him chance to end title drought.
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Memphis, Tenn. • Ben Crane has waited so long to contend for another PGA Tour title that being patient through weather delays is no problem at all.

Staying atop the leaderboard into the third round helps.

Crane went more than 28 hours between competitive shots due to weather delays, and he was at 13 under with a four-stroke lead through six holes Saturday when another storm stopped play again at the St. Jude Classic.

"What an opportunity I have," Crane said. "Certainly at the beginning of the week I never thought I would have been here, so I'll just try to go home relax, get some food in me and sleep as fast as I can because we got to come back out at 7 a.m. and restart tomorrow."

Troy Merritt, a group ahead of Crane, was at 9 under, with playing partner Peter Malnati at 8 under. Billy Horschel, Retief Goosen and Camilo Villegas were 7 under on their front nines.

Phil Mickelson, who hasn't won in 19 straight events dating to the British Open, had pars on each of his first nine holes and was at 5 under. He's one of many players using the event to tune up for the U.S. Open next week at Pinehurst.

Play stopped at 6:49 p.m. with officials hoping to have the leaders tee off for the final round by 9:10 a.m. Sunday, if they can avoid a fog delay like the one that delayed the start of play for an hour Saturday morning.

A storm Thursday forced 60 players to wrap up the first round Friday, and only 32 finished the second before two delays, the second for a thunderstorm that left water standing in fairways, bunkers and cart paths.

LPGA Tour

In Waterloo, Ontario, Shanshan Feng took a two-stroke lead in the Manulife Financial Classic, shooting a 4-under 67 in calm conditions at Grey Silo. The 24-year-old Chinese player had a 15-under 198 total.

Michelle Wie and second-ranked Inbee Park were tied for second. Wie had a 65, and Park shot a bogey-free 65.

Champions Tour

Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead in the Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course in Ridgedale, Mo. Haas and Jacobsen played nine holes of alternate shot and nine of better ball at Top of the Rock, the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, after opening with a better-ball 62 on Friday on the regulation Buffalo Ridge layout. They had a 15-under 110 total.

Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk were second after a 50 on the par-3 course. Saturday's results

St. Jude Classic

Yardage • 7,239; Par • 70 (35-35)

Completed second round

Ben Crane 63-65—128 -12

Retief Goosen 66-66—132 -8

Camilo Villegas 68-64—132 -8

Peter Malnati 65-68—133 -7

Troy Merritt 67-66—133 -7

Carl Pettersson 67-67—134 -6

Brian Harman 69-65—134 -6

Davis Love III 65-70—135 -5

Billy Horschel 67-68—135 -5

Jason Bohn 67-68—135 -5

Padraig Harrington 68-67—135 -5

Phil Mickelson 67-68—135 -5

Dustin Johnson 68-67—135 -5

Ted Potter, Jr. 68-67—135 -5

Andrew Svoboda 69-66—135 -5

J.J. Henry 66-70—136 -4

Chesson Hadley 67-69—136 -4

Tim Wilkinson 68-68—136 -4

Ben Martin 69-67—136 -4

Stewart Cink 70-66—136 -4

G. -Castano 67-70—137 -3

Matt Every 69-68—137 -3

Graeme McDowell 69-68—137 -3

Ian Poulter 69-68—137 -3

Tim Clark 68-69—137 -3

Will Wilcox 70-67—137 -3

John Peterson 69-68—137 -3

Kevin Kisner 65-72—137 -3

Shawn Stefani 70-67—137 -3

Paul Casey 70-67—137 -3

Tommy Gainey 69-68—137 -3

Webb Simpson 71-66—137 -3

Martin Laird 70-67—137 -3

Brooks Koepka 67-70—137 -3

Leaderboard at time of suspended play

SCORE THRU

1. Ben Crane -13 6

2. Troy Merritt -9 7

3. Peter Malnati -8 7

4. Billy Horschel -7 8

4. Retief Goosen -7 6

4. Camilo Villegas -7 6

7. Matt Every -6 12

7. Andrew Svoboda -6 9

7. Carl Pettersson -6 7

7. Brian Harman -6 8

LPGA-Manulife Financial Classic

Yardage • 6,330; Par • 71 (36-35) Third round

Shanshan Feng 66-65-67—198 -15

Inbee Park 69-66-65—200 -13

Michelle Wie 65-67-68—200 -13

Cristie Kerr 67-69-65—201 -12

Lydia Ko 71-67-64—202 -11

Anna Nordqvist 69-64-69—202 -11

Candie Kung 70-68-65—203 -10

Na Yeon Choi 68-67-68—203 -10

Belen Mozo 68-67-68—203 -10

Hee Young Park 65-66-72—203 -10

Suzann Pettersen 70-67-67—204 -9

Angela Stanford 71-67-67—205 -8

T. Suwannapura 72-66-67—205 -8

Meena Lee 70-67-68—205 -8

Jee Young Lee 68-68-69—205 -8

So Yeon Ryu 68-67-70—205 -8

Xi Yu Lin 67-67-71—205 -8