Faulk surprised by playing partner in second round

STATELINE -- Marshall Faulk thought he was dreaming on Saturday when he walked up to the No. 1 tee to start his second round at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

"When I looked out and saw I was playing with Rick Rhoden, I thought, man, he must have played really bad yesterday," Faulk said of Rhoden, who has won the American Century Championship five times in 13 years. "Then when we started playing, he wasn't playing bad anymore."

On Friday, Rhoden stumbled to a first-round score of +15 under the new Stableford scoring format, which meant he would be grouped on Saturday with two second-tier players. He started out the second round 12 points behind the leader, but will go into today's final round, like always, among the half dozen players in position to win. Rhoden shot a +30 to move into third place overall.

"I got on every par 5 in two (shots) today," said Rhoden, who shot a 5-under 67, including an eagle on the par-5 18th. "This puts me right back in the game. I know I needed a good round of 30, probably one or two of them."

Rhoden, who last won the tournament in 1999, trails leaders Steve Bartowski and Jack Wagner, who each have +51 points. Bartowski, Wagner and Rhoden will be in the final group for today's final round.

Faulk, the superstar running back for the St. Louis Rams, shot a 75 on Saturday and currently has a tournament total of +31, which puts him in a tie for 20th with Ivan Lendl.

PLAYERS DON'T WANT VENUE CHANGED

Tournament officials are working on a contract to keep the American Century Championship at Edgewood. The current contract expires after this year but everybody involved expects a new contract to be signed soon. However, Rhoden is curious where the tournament would be moved to.

"Where are you going to move it, the middle of the desert? There are a lot of pluses here and very few minuses."

DEL NEGRO NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING

Following his round on Saturday, former NBA player Vinny Del Negro was walking to sign his scorecard when a kid in the stands asked for his golf ball. Another kid then asked for his glove. Del Negro, who shot a 3-over 75 and a Stableford total of +14 on Saturday, gave the second kid an awkward look and replied...

"I'm keeping my pants."

DEL GRECO CAN'T LET IT GO

Al Del Greco, who ended Saturday's round in seventh place overall in the tournament with a +42, put on a kicking display for one lucky boater. On No. 17, which is located on the shore of Lake Tahoe, Del Greco, who was an NFL place kicker for 17 seasons, kicked a football out on the lake and onto the boat of a spectator.

FORMER CARDINALS QB NOT SON'S FAVORITE PERSON

Neil Lomax' tee shot on No. 18 bounced off the cart path and hit, of all people, his son in the head. So when the former St. Louis Cardinals quarterback came walking off the 18th green and was asked by a boy for his golf ball, he had to decline.

"This one has to go for my son."