Pettersson is a mystery no longer

Carl Pettersson might not be a "mystery Swede" much longer.

Unknown even by the Swedish Golf Federation until a few years ago, Pettersson continued to make it look easy at Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., yesterday with a 4-under-par 68 that gave him a three-shot lead in the Honda Classic, the largest 36-hole margin on tour this year.

"I've never had a 36-hole lead," Pettersson said. "We'll see what happens."

He was at 13-under 131, three shots ahead of Brad Faxon and Todd Hamilton, who each shot 66.

Fredrik Jacobson of Sweden had a 69 and was at 8-under 136, while the large contingent at 138 included Davis Love, Fred Couples, and Jesper Parnevik, the PGA Tour's most famous Swedish player.

"He's one of those mystery Swedes," Parnevik said. "Even the Swedish golfers didn't have a clue he was from Sweden for a while."

Pettersson moved to England when he was 10, then to North Carolina five years ago.

LPGA -- Karen Stupples put together a 4-under 66 to lead the Welch's/Fry's Championship in Tucson by one shot over Laura Davies (65) and Jung Yeon Lee (70).

Stupples had four birdies in the second round to reach 11 under.

Champions -- Peter Jacobsen got off to a fast start in his Champions Tour debut, shooting a 5-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the SBC Classic in Santa Clara, Calif.

European -- Ian Woosnam shot a 3-under 69 and shared the lead with four others at 6-under 138 after two rounds of the Qatar Masters at Doha.