Golf capsules

Golf Capsules

By The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) - D.A. Points saved his best golf for the tougher course Friday at Torrey Pines and wound up in a share of the lead with Ryuji Imada in the Farmers Insurance Open.

Points avoided a shaky start with a series of good par saves, then finished strong with an eagle and a birdie over the final four holes on the South Course for a 7-under 65. Imada also played the South, which hosted the U.S. Open in 2008, and shot a 68.

Imada, who was runner-up to Tiger Woods by eight shots in 2008 at the PGA Tour event, has yet to make a bogey.

They were at 11-under 133, giving them a head start going into the weekend rounds on the South Course. Torrey Pines has two of the most distinct courses on the PGA Tour, with the South playing 2 1/2 shots easier than the North.

Points and Imada were two strokes ahead of Matt Every, who had a 70 on the South, and Michael Sim of Australia, who had a tournament-best 62 on the North Course and finished with an eagle.

Phil Mickelson didn't go as low as he wanted, but he also finished with a flourish for a 67 that left him only four shots behind in his first tournament of the year.

Mickelson spent most of his time after the round answering questions about the old Ping wedge in his bag with square grooves, and Scott McCarron accusing him of "cheating" for using it. The square-groove Ping wedges are legal because of a lawsuit that Ping filed against the USGA that was settled in 1990.

Qatar Masters

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Australia's Brett Rumford of Australia shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Wales' Bradley Dredge in the Qatar Masters.

Rumford had a 9-under 1-under 135 total. Dredge shot a 69.

England's Lee Westwood (69) and Oliver Wilson (70) were 7 under, and Sweden's Niclas Fasth (68) and Robert Karlsson (70) followed at 6 under.

New Zealand Open

QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand (AP) - American Robert Gates had a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Australia's Andrew Dodt after the second round of the Nationwide Tour's season-opening New Zealand Open.

Gates, the 6-foot-6 former Texas A&M player making his Nationwide Tour debut, had a 12-under 132 total at The Hills. Dodt shot a 68 in the tournament also sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia.