[GOLF]

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Regan Lee missed this putt on the 12th green, but he still held a three-stroke lead after yesterday's second round of the Rainbow Open at the Mililani Golf Club.

Lee seizes control of Rainbow

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By Ryan Ito
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Regan Lee used a pair of 68s to vault himself to the top of the leaderboard on "Moving Day" at the 29th Annual Rainbow Open.

On a day that many golfers described as tough and a grind, Lee shot a 4-under 68 at the Mililani Golf Club, cashing in on six birdies. Lee's 136 total has him three strokes ahead of the pack.

But Lee knows Lady Luck played a significant role in his success all day long.

"I had a not-so-bad tee shot on the first tee," Lee said. "I actually put it through the trees. But that's how you know it's going to be a good day. When you hit the ball through the trees and it doesn't come firing back at you."

"It went through the trees and on to the cart path. And I ended up making birdie."

The next-to-last round of a golf tournament is often known as Moving Day because it is the day players try to move up the leaderboard and into contention with a strong round. Yesterday was true to form.

Philip Chun's 3-under 69 left him alone in second at 139 (70-69). And Chad Saladin shot a 4-under 68 to put him at 141 (73-68) overall.

On the other hand, first-round leader Kevin Carll, fellow pro Beau Yokomoto and amateur Matthew Ma found themselves moving in the wrong direction.

All three shot disappointing 2-over 74s, leaving Carll four strokes back at 140 (66-74), Ma six back at 142 (68-74) and Yokomoto at 143 (69-74).

For Carll, yesterday was a struggle.

"I think I hit only two fairways," he said. "It seemed like I was punching out of the trees all day long. It's disappointing, but I consider this character building."

Carll started his round on the 10th tee. A birdie on the 12th got Carll to 7-under for the tournament. Bogeys on the par-5 13th and par-4 14th followed by a birdie on the par-5 17th had Carll back at even for the day and 6-under overall. But three bogeys and a birdie on the back nine left Carll staring up at Lee atop the leaderboard.

Poor play was not the only reason there were only eight scores below par for the day as compared to 19 on Friday. Windy conditions coupled with tough pin placements set the course up to be tougher than usual.

"It's the hardest I've seen the wind blow out here in a couple of years," said Jeff Ferry who shot a 3-over 75. "On the 14th hole, I usually hit driver and pitching wedge. Today I used driver and 4-iron."

"It was gusty today and in some places it played three extra club-lengths," said Kevin Hayashi. The former champion of this tournament shot a second round 71 and is tied for third with Carll at 140 overall.

Ma said the greens were treacherous.

"'Oh boy!' -- that's all I could say when I saw some of the pin placements," he said. "Like on the 8th. The hole was like on a manapua. The ball didn't want to stop and it kept rolling back. I was just lucky I could make my putt for par."

The highlight of yesterday's play was a hole-in-one on the 153-yard No. 12 by Lance Taketa.

"I hit it good, really solid," said Taketa, who used a 7-iron. "But I didn't see it go in. The hole was covered with a shadow. Lucky there were some kids near the green. And they started jumping up and down and running to the hole to look in."

Taketa's joy was short-lived though.

"I hooked my next tee shot out of bounds and gave it right back," he said.

"I'm still kind of shocked right now. It was my first one and it came in a big tournament."