Glenview, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Tom Lehman carded a 6-under 66 on Saturday and moved three strokes clear of the field with the second round of the Encompass Championship suspended due to inclement weather.
Lehman ended 36 holes at 13-under-par 131. Lehman will go for his eighth tour title on Sunday.
Kirk Triplett and John Inman both carded 5-under 67s in round two. They moved into a share of second place at minus-10. They were joined there by Roger Chapman, who shot 68 on Saturday, and Bart Bryant, who was 5-under through 16 holes of his second round when play was stopped.
With just a few of the afternoon groups done with their rounds at North Shore Country Club, the horns blew to suspend play due to lightning in the area. The storms moved in and dumped over an inch of rain on the course in just over an hour.
Officials later called play for the day. The second round will resume Sunday morning at 8:15 a.m. ET.
Lehman had a slow start to his round. He birdied the second and eighth to go with seven pars on the front nine. Lehman turned at minus-9 and trailed Triplett and Inman, who had both played in the morning wave, by one.
Around the turn, Lehman caught fire. After a 6-foot birdie putt on the 11th, Lehman chipped in for birdie on No. 13 to take the lead at 11-under.
Lehman made it two in a row as he rolled in an 8-foot birdie effort on the 14th. Two holes later, Lehman converted a 4-footer for birdie to move to minus-13. He parred the final two holes to end there.
"It was a very similar day to yesterday. I actually felt like I hit the ball better today than yesterday. Didn't hit it quite as close, but felt very comfortable over the ball and drove the ball pretty well again," said Lehman. "Definitely put myself in a position off the tee to attack the golf course. I was hitting it out there pretty good today, so I had a lot of short irons. Very, very pleased, I think mostly with the fact that I had two bogey-free rounds. It's been a while since I played a bogey-free round and to do it two days in a row is every bit as special."
Triplett played the back nine first and birdied the 11th and 14th. Around the turn, he birdied three of the first five holes to climb to minus-10. He parred the last four to end there.
Inman also played the back nine first on Saturday. His two birdies on his opening nine came at 14 and 16. On his second nine, Inman's birdies came on the second, sixth and ninth as he closed out a bogey-free round.
Chapman birdied the 10th and 11th, before stumbling to a bogey on the 12th. He wrapped birdies at 14 and 16 around a bogey on the 15th.
After three straight pars around the turn, Chapman birdied the second and third. He faltered to a bogey on the sixth, but bounced back with a birdie on the eighth to share second.
Bryant had four birdies in a 5-hole span from the second. He dropped a shot on the seventh. Around the turn, Bryant birdied 10 and 11 before making five pars in a row before play was called for the day.
Michael Allen is alone in sixth at minus-9, while Colin Montgomerie is alone in seventh at 8-under par. Allen and Montgomerie both finished 16 holes of their second rounds.
NOTES: Lehman will likely own the lead when round two ends on Sunday, and that will mark the fourth time in his Champions Tour career that he was the 36-hole leader. Lehman won just one of the previous three ... Thirty-one players need to finish their second round on Sunday morning ... Inman lost in the quarterfinals of the 1983 U.S. Amateur at North Shore Country Club.
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