Furyk sneaks ahead of the chasing pack

JIM FURYK fired a flawless 65 yesterday to grab a one shot lead after two rounds of the Pebble Beach National Pro am golf tournament in California.

Furyk moved to 12 under 130 through 36 holes, one shot ahead of South African David Frost, who came within one stroke of the course record with a nine under 63 on the Pebble Beach Golf Links. Tom Kite had a 10 under 62 in 1987 at Pebble, one of three courses in use for this event. Three time champion Mark O'Meara and Paul Stankowski both carded 67 to share third on 10 under 132.

First round co leader Jesper Parnevik of Sweden and Fiji's Vijay Singh headed, a group of five players on, nine under 135. Brian Henninger, Ted Tryba and Larry Silveira were also three shots off the lead.

David Duval and Sweden's Jesper Parnevik had shared the first round lead with rounds of seven under par 65. One stroke behind on 66 were Tom Lehman and Brian Henninger, both of whom played Poppy, as well as Billy Andrade, whose 66 was shot at Spyglass Hill. Nine players were tied on 67, including Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, Mark Brooks and Vijay Singh.

The tournament produced record crowds on the opening day, but few spectators were following the leaders. The pairing of Tiger Woods and amateur partner Kevin Costner drew galleries 12 deep around every tee and green. Woods shot a 70 at Spyglass to finish in a tie for 46th.