KAHUKU — Gil Morgan ducked the wind and the disasters it can induce in the second round yesterday, clinging to his two-shot lead in the Turtle Bay Championship.

While gusts up to 30 mph blew the first full field of the Champions Tour season backward, Morgan stayed in front by playing the Palmer Course in even-par 72. He remains at 7-under 137 for the tournament and is two ahead of Jim Thorpe and Bernhard Langer going into today's final round.

"It was pretty wicked out there with the wind," said Morgan, who estimated a two- to three-club impact on club selection either way. "You had to really stay on top of it all the time to make it seem like it would work, and even then it didn't work 100 percent of the time."

More wind is predicted. In other words, it will be another typical Turtle Bay day — conditions this tour has managed to avoid the past few years.

"Then I guarantee the winning score has already been posted," Thorpe said when he heard the forecast. "Basically what you're trying to do is hold on to what you got.

"This could have been one of the hardest rounds of golf I've played since I've been on the Champions Tour. It was a guessing game, an absolute guessing game."

It was tough enough that only 11 golfers broke par. The Palmer Course played to an average of 74.416. Don Pooley was the only player to break 70, one-putting 14 times and birdieing the final hole for a 69 that shot him from 58th to 15th.

"The hardest element to ever throw at a golfer is wind ...," said defending champion Fred Funk, who bolted into contention with a second straight 70 and has a share of fourth. "It creates the biggest problems for golfers because it makes us guess and think and you've got to create.

"The best thing about it, though, is if you're playing well and hitting the ball solid that's the separation between you and the rest of the guys. The guys hitting the ball the best usually are ahead in these severe conditions. For me, I just kept saying bring on the wind, keep on blowing baby."

Funk might hit it as solid and straight as anyone, and this is his fourth start in as many weeks in Hawai'i. He played the first two PGA Tour events, then won last week's first senior stop on the Big Island. He also shattered several records here last year, winning by 11 shots by going deep (23-under).

He was 15-under after two rounds last year, on his way to a win of historical proportions. Earlier in the week he knew it wouldn't be the same this year.

"I thought it would be the biggest difference in winning scores between two years maybe ever," Funk said. "It might be. If it's blowing as hard tomorrow, or even harder, anything under par is a heck of a round. I thought single digits might win this week if the wind blew and that could hold true."

What the wind did yesterday — in the fairways and, especially, on the greens — was blow the best to the top.

Morgan, 61, has won 25 times on the Champions Tour and is the only senior to make a $1 million 11 straight years. Funk has been phenomenal in his 15 senior starts. Langer, the best golfer ever to come out of Germany, is in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Of his 62 titles, two came at The Masters and one in his fourth senior start last year.

Thorpe, who will turn 59 Friday, went into the final round last week two shots back and closed with a 74 to fall out of the top 10. He counts the final event of 2007 among his 13 Champions wins. The senior tour has made him $12.5 million richer since he joined in 1999.

Yesterday's bluster also kept former Kailua resident Scott Simpson (72—141), Tom Kite (73—141), Allen Doyle (70—142) and Loren Roberts (71—143) in contention. Doyle was second to Funk last week and the other three have all been second here, with Roberts winning in 2006. Six-time champion Hale Irwin (72—144) still has an outside shot.

"I think somebody is going to have a better round tomorrow, you never know," Morgan said. "It depends on how far back they are and how I play. If I play poorly, it gives everybody an opportunity. If I put a good number out there all of a sudden then it will be beneficial for me."

NOTES

Hawai'i's David Ishii closed with 15 pars yesterday to shoot 73 — five shots better than Friday. Ishii is tied for 64th. Hale Irwin (Hokuli'a) and Kiyoshi Murota (Turtle Bay) share 23rd at 144. Dave Eichelberger is at 148 and Dick McClean 149.

Tim Simpson withdrew after the first round because of a bad back and shoulder. He was scheduled to play with Ishii and Walter Zembriski yesterday. Ishii said playing as a twosome helped him, after he was pushed "out of my rhythm" Friday when officials put his threesome on the clock.

Fred Funk has been suffering from a viral infection this week. His doctor advised him to take IV's so Funk went into Kahuku for 2 liters of IV solution Thursday and Friday night.

Punahou senior Stephanie Kono will join Punahou freshman Cyd Okino in trying to qualify for the Fields Open in Hawai'i Feb. 18. The LPGA allows two amateurs in the qualifier and Kono and Okino both received special invitations.

Kono, the 2006 state high school champion, said she is hoping to play high school golf again after missing last year because of scheduling problems. She was following Ishii yesterday while Moanalua junior Tadd Fujikawa watched Isao Aoki and Allen Doyle, who calls him "The Tadd Man."

Gil Morgan, 61, is attempting to become the 18th player in his 60s to win on this tour. His score of 7-under 137 is the highest to lead after two rounds here since Tom Kite was at 6-under in 2003. The average second-round score that year — 74.864 — was the only one higher than yesterday.

Correction: A photo from the Turtle Bay Championship on page D4 of Friday's Advertiser was of Morgan hitting from the 17th fairway during the first round. The photo was incorrectly identified.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.