Armour and Estes retain lead at rainy Tesoro

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tommy Armour III birdied his last two holes to retain a share of the lead with fellow American Bob Estes in the weather-hit Ginn sur Mer Classic second round at Port St Lucie, Florida on Friday.

Armour rolled in a 25-footer at the eighth before tapping in from inside two feet at the ninth for a five-under-par 68, joining Estes on 14-under 132 at a rain-drenched Tesoro Club.

Estes also birdied his final hole for a 68, draining a nine-footer at the par-four 18th to stay in the hunt for his fifth PGA Tour title.

Heavy afternoon showers swept across the course, forcing play to be suspended with 64 golfers yet to complete the second round in the penultimate Tour event of the season.

"It was more of the same for the most part, I probably hit it a little closer yesterday overall," Estes told reporters, referring to his nine-birdie 64 in the opening round.

"After a quick turnaround from last night to this morning, you definitely would like a lot more rest before having to get up and do it again so soon. But with the fairways soft and the greens soft you still can make a lot of birdies."

For the second day in a row, players were allowed to lift, clean and replace golf balls on the fairways because of the wet, muddy conditions.

DROPPING BALLS

"It's hard to find places to drop the balls besides the water," Armour said after a round featuring an eagle-three at the 16th, four birdies and one bogey. "It's wet and the course is not going to dry out, either."