Webb Simpson looked at the scores and the weather, neither of which indicated an easy time yesterday at Liberty National. He quickly settled on a simple game plan and made it pay off in The Barclays at Jersey City, N.J.

Simpson took advantage on some of the shorter holes to give him a cushion for the inevitable mistakes. It led to a 3-under 68 on a long, tough and wet afternoon that put the 24-year-old rookie atop the leaderboard for the first time all year.

"My caddie and I talked beforehand about taking advantage of the par 5s and the shorter par 4s, just because we knew we were going to make bogeys," Simpson said. "It was just one of those long, tough days. But I feel good with where I'm at."

He was at 8-under 134, two shots clear of Paul Goydos and Steve Marino, who started the second round tied for the lead and did well to get around in even-par 71.

Sergio Garcia also was tied for the lead, got stuck in the morning wave and the worst of the rain, and shot a 76.

Tiger Woods tried to hit driver onto one green on the 16th, where the tees were moved up. His shot sailed 65 yards wide of his target, over the water hazard, beyond the tee boxes at No. 17. He nearly crushed a tee marker before stopping the club a foot short, and while he made par, it summed up his frustration.

Woods had a 72, yet still moved up 10 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 17th at even-par 142. For the second straight day, he refused to meet with the reporters to discuss his round.

The cut came at 5-over 147, matching the highest cut of the year (Bay Hill). Only nine players broke par, one day after there were 26 scores under par.

O'MEARA'S 66 LEADS

It's the only accolade missing from Mark O'Meara's golf resume: a win on the Champions Tour.

He's a third of the way to filling that void.

O'Meara eagled the 18th hole yesterday to finish a round of 6-under 66 and take a two-shot lead over a jumbled field after the first round of the Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie, Wash.

It's been 11 years since O'Meara hosted a trophy in a PGA event, when he won both the Masters and British Open in 1998.

Australian Mark McNulty had the best round of the day going, shooting a sizzling 6-under 30 on his first nine holes — the back nine at Snoqualmie Ridge. But he scrambled to a 2-over 38 and finished with a 68, tied with Allen Doyle, Loren Roberts and John Jacobs.

TENNIS

RAINS STALLS PILOT PEN

Caroline Wozniacki waited most of yesterday, then moved back into the finals of the Pilot Pen at New Haven, Conn., beating Flavia Pennetta of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, in a match that was moved from a 13,000-seat stadium to an indoor college court.

The 19-year-old Wozniacki is scheduled to play for her sixth career title and her second consecutive win in New Haven today against Elena Vesnina.

The unseeded Russian upset former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, the second indoor semifinal of the night.

With a steady rain falling and the U.S. Open on the horizon, tournament officials made the decision last evening to play the women's semifinals inside Yale's newly renovated Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.

The men's semifinals were rained out yesterday. Tournament officials hoped to get both those matches in today, as well as both finals.

TRACK AND FIELD

RECORD IN POLE VAULT

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva bounced back from losing her world title by setting a world record of 16 feet, 7 1/4 inches yesterday at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich.

Usain Bolt, in his first race since smashing world records in the 100 and 200 meters, shook off Jamaican teammate Asafa Powell to win the 100 in 9.81 seconds. He was well off his world record of 9.58 set less than two weeks ago at the world championships in Berlin.

World champion Sanya Richards of the United States stayed in the chase for the $1 million Golden League jackpot by powering home 48.94 seconds for an easy victory in the 400 meters.

Richards needs to win the 400 in the last Golden League meet in Brussels next week to be one of the jackpot winners.

The jackpot goes to the athlete or athletes who win their event in all six of the Golden League meets.

By winning the pole vault, Isinbayeva stayed in the jackpot hunt, as well as Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, who cruised to victory in the 5,000 in 12:52.32, the fastest time this year.