Bean charges in front at Sonoma

Nov 1, 2008 - 1:09 AM SONOMA, California (Ticker) -- Andy Bean notched seven birdies and carded a 6-under par 66 on Friday to grab the lead after two rounds of the $2.5 million Charles Schwab Championship.

Bean, whose only win this season came at the Regions Charity Classic in May, played a terrific back nine. The 55-year-old birdied five of six holes from Nos. 10-15 and is at 10-under 134 for the tournament.

Bean's only misstep came on the front nine, when he bogeyed the par-3 seventh hole.

"What can I say? My game's good," Bean said. "I hit a lot of solid shots.

"I was driving the ball well. That's obviously a key to playing this golf course, with the conditions being the way we played. (We) started out playing mostly in the rain today. I drove the ball really well. If I keep giving myself those opportunities, I will be OK."

The Schwab Cup will be decided at the end of this event but, with just 796 points, Bean has no shot at overtaking the leader, Jay Haas (2,556).

The winner of this event is awarded 844 points.

Bean, who began the day in fourth place, holds a one-stroke lead over Nick Price. Price held the first-round lead but recorded just three birdies and is at 9-under 135.

"It's a good round," Price said. "I may have been able to have shot a couple shots better, but I'm very happy with shooting 69 and staying right in there."

Bean was looking forward to playing against Price on Saturday.

"Any time you play with Nick, you're going to have a good time," Bean said. "He's a great guy. I look forward to it. We played a number of times this year. If you don't like playing with Nick, you just don't like playing golf."

Following Price was Tom Jenkins (136), who fired eight birdies and is in a three-way tie for third.

"I felt very comfortable with the speeds (of the greens)," Jenkins said. "It's one of those rounds where you just kind of see the lines, and if the speed is good, you're going to make a lot of putts."

Haas, who holds a 12-point lead over Fred Funk in the Schwab Cup standings, is among five golfers tied for ninth at 6-under par 138. Funk, who had a triple-bogey on Thursday, posted three more bogeys and is in 29th (145).

First prize is $440,000.