US TOUR: John Daly blasted his way into the second round clubhouse lead at the Houston Open yesterday, firing a five-under-par 67 at the Redstone Golf Club.

The 7,508-yard Redstone layout and its wide-open fairways hold mouth-watering appeal to the PGA Tour's power hitters, and Daly, one of golf's biggest swingers, took full advantage.

Daly mixed seven birdies with a pair of bogeys to go to nine-under-par 135.

On the course, Vijay Singh, the defending champion and overnight leader, was among the late starters and was level with Daly through 10 holes, while Jeff Maggert had a one-shot lead after going five-under through 12 holes.

Darren Clarke shot a three-under-par 71, which included six birdies, to lie on four under overall.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Des Smyth fired a flawless, six-under-par 66 in yesterday's opening round of the Legends of Golf tournament at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort and Spa, in Savannah, Georgia.

That left the Irishman on his own in second spot, one shot behind Tom Purtzer, who dropped only one shot, at the second, on his way to a 65.

Smyth was one shot clear of Morris Hatalsky, Jay Haas, Andy Bean and Wayne Levi.

EUROPEAN SENIORS: England's David J Russell stamped his dominance on the Jolie Ville Sharm El Sheikh Seniors Open in Egypt yesterday by adding a second round 66 to his opening 63 to post a total of 15-under-par 129. It is the lowest first 36 holes to par in Seniors Tour history and gave him a three-shot lead going into the final round at the Jolie Ville Golf and Resort.

Eamonn Darcy saw his bid disintegrate with a bogey-double-bogey finish that left him trailing by 10 shots.

The Dubliner was six under par for the second round (and eight under in total) with just two holes remaining, but saw his charge come to an abrupt halt after dropping three shots over the last two holes to card a second round 69 and post a five-under-par total of 139.