Holmes and LaBelle take clubhouse lead in Phoenix

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - J.B Holmes and Doug LaBelle II shared the clubhouse lead after the second day of the Phoenix Open, both ending their rounds tied on nine under par 133.

Colombia's Camilio Villegas, whose first round was affected by a frost delay on Thursday and finished it early on Friday before beginning his second round, was also at nine-under par.

He shot a first round 66 and was four-under through 12 holes on his second, which he will have to complete on Saturday along with a number of other players.

Holmes, whose only PGA Tour title came here in 2006, fired a six under-par 65 while LaBelle, who had to qualify for the tournament, was one shot better in front of a large crowd.

"The greens are pretty good and soft and the winds not so strong. It is there for the taking if you can do it on the fairway," said LaBelle, who looked to overcome his recent swing trouble.

LaBelle fired five bogeys in his final nine holes at last week's Buick Invitational where he tied for 19th place.

On Friday he birdied the opening two holes before going on to eagle the par five 13th.

Holmes, who was let down by two bogeys on Thursday, was faultless as he produced six birdies, four of them coming on the back nine.

His most impressive shot came on the final hole when he produced a great shot to the green from a fairway bunker.

"It was a pretty good yardage for me, 120, I pushed it just a little. I was planning on hitting it a little closer but I will take that shot every time out of there," he said.

Pat Perez was a shot further back on eight-under with the only blemish amongst his seven birdies was when he bogeyed the celebrated 16th hole, which features desert sand and cacti as well as seating for 25,000 noisy fans.

Perez has also had to deal with some technical and fitness problems and said he was delighted with his progress.

"I worked hard with my coach last week, we have been breaking down the swing and figuring out what we need to do," said Perez. "I think I have committed myself a little more to getting it down."

Australia's Nick O'Hern was also eight under after firing a clean six-birdie round of 65, while Ben Crane and Bill Haas of the U.S. were also on eight under par but will also need to finish their second rounds on Saturday.

Crane was seven-under for the round through 14, while Hass was four-under through 13.

(Reporting by Simon Evans in Miami, editing by Greg Stutchbury)