Ben Crane caught a break in the weather for the second straight day and shot 5-under-par 65 to take a six-stroke lead over Jason Bohn and Carl Pettersson of Sweden in the second round of the rain-plagued FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn.
Only 32 players finished round two and play will resume early Saturday.
Crane, who is finally healthy after a battling back problems, followed his opening 63 by making six birdies on Friday and playing bogey-free for the second day in a row until hitting his drive into a fairway bunker and missing a seven-foot par putt on the 18th hole.
“There’s no question we’ve had the best of the weather,” said Crane, who has not won on the PGA Tour since the 2011 McGladrey Classic. “It was calm after the rain yesterday and this morning the course was a little soft, so the greens were receptive.
“It’s been a tough year so far, but this has been a pleasant surprise. I feel like I’m going in the right direction and things are starting to fall into place. The putts were falling and it was another great day.”
Pettersson carded four birdies in the first seven holes and was 6-under for the tournament through 16 holes and looking at a 46-foot putt for birdie on the 18th hole when play was halted for the day.
Bohn also was at 6-under after carding three consecutive birdies through No. 16 before the horn sounded.
Billy Horschel shot 68 and was seven strokes behind in a tie for fourth with Davis Love III, who posted a 70 with two bogeys on his last three holes, and Peter Malnati, who opened with a 65 but never hit a shot on Friday before play was washed out.
Phil Mickelson, seeking his first top-10 finish of the season on the PGA Tour and looking for momentum heading to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst next week, also never teed off after opening with a 67 and was nine shots back in a tie for 11th.
