Travelers Championship

David Toms shot a 5-under-par 65 yesterday to move into a tie for the second-round lead in the Travelers Championship. Toms, who has had five top-10 finishes this year, shared the lead at 8 under with journeyman Jay Williamson, who shot a 66 for the second day in a row at the TPC River Highlands. First-round leader Hunter Mahan followed his 62 with a 71. He is 7 under. LPGA Tour PITTSFORD, N.Y. - Rookie In-Kyung Kim shot a 5-under 67 to join South Korean compatriot Mi Hyun Kim atop the leader board at 7 under after two rounds of the Wegmans LPGA at Locust Hill.

Hunter Mahan shot an 8-under 62 yesterday to take the first-round lead in the Travelers Championship before rain suspended play with 39 golfers still on the course. The round was one stroke off the course record and it was his sixth consecutive round in the 60s at the TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. "It's one of the courses that you look at it and you feel comfortable," said Hunter, who finished second in last year's tournament. "There's not really a shot here that I worry about.

CROMWELL, Conn. - David Mathis had a hole-in-one and shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday to take a 1-stroke lead after the first round of the Travelers Championship. The 38-year-old Mathis, who missed the cut last week in the U.S. Open, began play on the back nine, making a birdie on 10 before holing out from 158 yards shot on the par-3 11th hole. He was 6 under after six holes. U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and Masters winner Bubba Watson played together and finished in a group of 10 at 66. The third member of the threesome, PGA champion Keegan Bradley, shot a 68. Mathis' ace was the shot of the day. He said he was just trying to cut a 9-iron close to the pin and it hit exactly where he aimed, bounced right and into the hole.

The AT&T National at Aronimink still has to play out over the weekend, but PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem already has seen enough to think that the Philadelphia area deserves a chance to host a tour event on a more permanent basis. "We would definitely like to continue an involvement here in Philadelphia and we're actively looking for ways to do that," Finchem said Wednesday. "We have a full schedule right now, but there are some times we're moving tournaments around, doing things.

Phil Mickelson has agreed to compete in the LG Skins Game, the first time in 5 years the three-time major champion will play in the event. Mickelson, the No. 2 player in the world and a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, joins a four-man field that includes two-time defending champion Stephen Ames. The other two spots will be filled out this summer, although an invitation has been offered to Sergio Garcia as winner of The Players Championship. The LG Skins Game, which began in 1983, will be played Nov. 29-30 at Indian Wells Golf Resort in California.

PITTSFORD, N.Y. - Cristie Kerr soared to a 12-stroke victory at the LPGA Championship on Sunday in one of the most lopsided wins at a major, leaving her in position to become the first American ranked No. 1 since the current system was instituted in 2006. Kerr closed with a birdie for 6-under 66, finishing at 19-under 269 and leading all four rounds. This was her second major title; the other was at the '07 U.S. Women's Open. Kerr began the final round with an 8-stroke lead on a humid, overcast day at Locust Hill Country Club.

CROMWELL, Conn. - Englishman Brian Davis shot a 6-under 64, and Roland Thatcher had a 65 on Saturday to share the third-round lead in the Travelers Championship at 12 under. Davis made an early move of the TPC River Highlands, shooting 29 on the front nine with six birdies. Thatcher overtook him with three straight birdies on the back nine and had a 1-stroke lead before missing a 7-foot par putt on the 17th hole. Seventeen other players are within 5 strokes of the lead entering the final round.

CROMWELL, Conn. - Defending champion Fredrik Jacobson shot a 4-under 66 on Friday to take a 1-stroke lead in the suspended second round of the Travelers Championship. The Swede had a 9-under 131 total. He's trying to join Phil Mickelson, the 2001 and 2002 winner, as the only players to successfully defend a title at River Highlands. Charley Hoffman opened with five consecutive birdies and was a shot back through six holes when rain suspended play for the day.   LPGA WATERLOO, Ontario - Rookie Sandra Changkija remained on top of the leaderboard after the completion of the first round at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.

CROMWELL, Conn. - Marc Leishman shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday in the Travelers Championship, then went back to the clubhouse to eat, watch some soccer, and see where he would finish. More than two hours later, after Charley Hoffman blew a 2-stroke lead on the final two holes, Leishman was hoisting his first trophy on the PGA Tour. Leishman, a 28-year-old Australian, began the day 6 strokes behind the leaders but made eight birdies in a bogey-free round. He finished at 14-under 266. Hoffman was 16 under heading to the 17th hole but pushed his tee shot right and into the water.

David Toms shot a 5-under-par 65 yesterday to move into a tie for the second-round lead at a blustery and rainy Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. Toms, who has had five top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year, shares the lead at 8 under with journeyman Jay Williamson, who fired a 66 for the second day in a row while playing in just his second event of the year. Toms, who started on the back nine, went to 9 under after an eagle on the par-4 second hole, pitching in his approach from 84 yards.

CROMWELL, Conn. - Marc Leishman shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday in the Travelers Championship, then went back to the clubhouse to eat, watch some soccer, and see where he would finish. More than two hours later, after Charley Hoffman blew a 2-stroke lead on the final two holes, Leishman was hoisting his first trophy on the PGA Tour. Leishman, a 28-year-old Australian, began the day 6 strokes behind the leaders but made eight birdies in a bogey-free round. He finished at 14-under 266. Hoffman was 16 under heading to the 17th hole but pushed his tee shot right and into the water.

CROMWELL, Conn. - Englishman Brian Davis shot a 6-under 64, and Roland Thatcher had a 65 on Saturday to share the third-round lead in the Travelers Championship at 12 under. Davis made an early move of the TPC River Highlands, shooting 29 on the front nine with six birdies. Thatcher overtook him with three straight birdies on the back nine and had a 1-stroke lead before missing a 7-foot par putt on the 17th hole. Seventeen other players are within 5 strokes of the lead entering the final round.

CROMWELL, Conn. - David Mathis had a hole-in-one and shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday to take a 1-stroke lead after the first round of the Travelers Championship. The 38-year-old Mathis, who missed the cut last week in the U.S. Open, began play on the back nine, making a birdie on 10 before holing out from 158 yards shot on the par-3 11th hole. He was 6 under after six holes. U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and Masters winner Bubba Watson played together and finished in a group of 10 at 66. The third member of the threesome, PGA champion Keegan Bradley, shot a 68. Mathis' ace was the shot of the day. He said he was just trying to cut a 9-iron close to the pin and it hit exactly where he aimed, bounced right and into the hole.

CROMWELL, Conn. - Defending champion Fredrik Jacobson shot a 4-under 66 on Friday to take a 1-stroke lead in the suspended second round of the Travelers Championship. The Swede had a 9-under 131 total. He's trying to join Phil Mickelson, the 2001 and 2002 winner, as the only players to successfully defend a title at River Highlands. Charley Hoffman opened with five consecutive birdies and was a shot back through six holes when rain suspended play for the day.   LPGA WATERLOO, Ontario - Rookie Sandra Changkija remained on top of the leaderboard after the completion of the first round at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.

Patrick Cantlay kept his cool while all those around him were losing theirs. Playing a mature game, well beyond his age, Cantlay walked off, his head held high, with a 1-under-par 69 at the AT&T National at Aronimink on Friday. He had held his own on a course that left Jim Furyk looking at his shoes and also chewed up and spit out the feel-good-story of the tourney, Erik Compton - the golfer who survived two heart transplants - who finished 12-over. Cantlay shot a bogey-free round on a tough course, as many veterans admitted they thought that the bogeys were inevitable.

It wasn't exactly the kind of homecoming West Chester's Sean O'Hair expected. This season has been mostly a struggle for him. But he's a member at Aronomink Golf Club, where he tied for 11th in last year's AT&T National despite playing with a sore back. At the moment, he'd probably take that. Assuming he makes the 36-hole cut. "It sucks," is how O'Hair summed up his opening 6-over-par 76 yesterday. He wouldn't get many arguments. He started early in the morning from the 10th hole, with 2008 champion Anthony Kim and Cameron Beckman.

Aronimink Golf Club poses a daunting challenge to golf's best players as one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour in 2010. But it's easy for anyone to fall in love with the place, especially if he plays well. That's the way it is for Justin Rose and Ryan Moore, who finished 1-2 in last year's AT&T National. And it could be like that for any of the 118 other players who have returned to Newtown Square to compete there for the second and final time in the event, which begins Thursday.

The AT&T National at Aronimink still has to play out over the weekend, but PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem already has seen enough to think that the Philadelphia area deserves a chance to host a tour event on a more permanent basis. "We would definitely like to continue an involvement here in Philadelphia and we're actively looking for ways to do that," Finchem said Wednesday. "We have a full schedule right now, but there are some times we're moving tournaments around, doing things.

When Justin Rose saw Aronimink Golf Club for the first time last year, he felt his best approach was, in his terms, to "take what you can get. " He got plenty. He set a course record of 64 in the second round of the AT&T National, grabbed a 5-stroke lead with nine holes to play, and held off a charge by Ryan Moore to capture the tournament by 1 shot for his second PGA Tour win in the span of about a month. "If there's one thing about not having played a golf course before, you come into it with no preconceived notions," Moore said earlier this month in a conference call with reporters.

Justin Rose had learned the previous Sunday how tough it is to close out a golf tournament, and wanted to put those lessons into play in the final round of the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club. Rose recalled the messages he had gathered the week before throughout his trek around the Newtown Square layout on a scorching-hot day, and while he again discovered that finishing a tournament is no easy task, at least he did it successfully this time. With Ryan Moore breathing down his neck with a sizzling 65, Rose converted 2-putt pars on each of his last seven holes to finish with a 70 and win the tournament by 1 stroke, his second victory in his last three events.