Associated Press
Friday, June 2

POTOMAC, Md. -- Justin Leonard was feeling the heat at 7 a.m. Steve Lowery found it hard to concentrate, yet he held on to the lead. Donnie Hammond got a little dizzy.

	Justin Leonard won the Kemper Open in 1997.

Even Casey Martin, riding a cart while tying a course record with five consecutive birdies, wasn't immune to the stifling humidity Friday in the Kemper Open. The heat sapped strokes from everyone on the back nine, turning potentially outstanding rounds into battles of attrition.

Lowery birdied four of the first five holes, but was walking the fairways with a white towel around his neck by the eighth hole. He somehow persevered on the back nine with one bogey and a birdie to finish the second round with a 3-under 68 and a 10-under 132 total.

"I was fading a little bit mentally on the last nine," Lowery said. "I hung in there and made a few good up-and-downs. But it was pretty hard out there. I was able to make pars, but it was pretty tough to concentrate."

Leonard, Hammond and Chris DiMarco were a stroke back. Leonard finished his round of 68 looking like a contestant in a wet T-shirt contest, even though his round started at 7:42 a.m.

"It's pretty warm out there; you can see my shirt, even when I was hitting balls at 7 o'clock this morning," Leonard said.

Hammond, a Maryland native playing on sponsor's exemption, shot a bogey-free 66 with only one birdie in the last five holes.

"I got real tired the last four or five holes. I even started to feel a little dizzy on 15 or so," Hammond said. "I play in weather this hot in Florida, but it's with a cart and shorts."

The National Weather Service said the high temperature was 92 degrees, but a high dew point officially classified the conditions as "oppressive."

That would seem to benefit Martin, who has battled the PGA Tour for the right to ride a cart because of his degenerative leg disorder. But Martin followed the same pattern as the others: great front nine, tired and wobbly back nine.

Martin birdied Nos. 2-6, putting on a clinic with his irons and putter. He rolled in a putt from more than 60 feet at No. 3 and exclaimed: "That could be the longest putt I've ever made."

Then, at No. 12, Martin hooked his tee shot by the creek for a double bogey. He botched a flop shot to bogey the 13th. After a 90-minute delay due to lightning, Martin bogeyed the last two holes and finished with an even-par 71 and a 3-under 141 total.

"It was exhausting. I was tired, and then going through that (delay) at the end, it made for a long day," Martin said. "I'm not going to blame the heat. I just hit some bad shots and got a few bad breaks on a couple of holes there."

Martin is also having a rough recovery from the laser eye surgery he underwent six days before the start of the tournament. A change in eye drops has helped, but earlier this week he was near panic because he couldn't see well at all.

"I was like, I need a cart and a seeing-eye dog," Martin said.

Jay Williamson, co-leader after the first round, didn't wait for Sunday to fall off the leaderboard this year. Williamson, who lost the lead in the fourth round here four years ago, shot a 74 for a 138 total, six shots back.

Defending champion Rich Beem shot a 74 for a 144 total and missed the cut by one stroke.

Although a cart seemed like a golfer's best friend on the hot day, golfers such as Lowery didn't begrudge Martin at all.

"The problems he has, I can't ever see that being an advantage," Lowery said. "Every time he plays well it doesn't have to be because of the cart."