David Toms shot a 5-under-par 65 yesterday to move into a tie for the second-round lead at a blustery and rainy Travelers Championship at Cromwell, Conn.

Toms, who has had five top-10 finishes this year, shares the lead at 8 under with journeyman Jay Williamson, who fired a 66 for the second day in a row while playing in just his second PGA Tour event of the year.

Toms, who started on the back nine, went to 9 under after an eagle on the par-4 second hole, pitching in his approach from 84 yards. But after a 21-minute rain delay, he bogeyed the seventh hole to fall back into the tie.

He said he failed to adjust to the slower greens after the rain.

"I missed puts at six, seven, eight and nine and they were all on the low side, not quite hard enough," he said.

Williamson closed his round by making birdie on the 17th and the 18th holes while playing into a 25 mph wind, with gusts at more than 35 mph.

"Obviously I drove it well," Williamson said. "I mean, you cannot play a day like today out of the rough."

Rain delayed play briefly for the second straight day.

Williamson, ranked seventh on the Nationwide Tour money list, would earn a PGA Tour exemption with a win here. At 40, he said he constantly thinks about whether playing the game is still worthwhile.

"I've learned that there is one place to play golf for a living, and that is on this tour," he said. "I'd much rather go to Flint (the next PGA Tour stop) than Peek n' Peak (the next Nationwide event)."

Olin Browne, the 1998 champion here, finished at 3 under for the day and is two strokes off the lead. Browne bogeyed his first two holes on the day, but eagled his next two — his first two eagles of the year.

LPGA

TWO KIMS LEAD IN N.Y.

Rookie In-Kyung Kim shot a 5-under 67 to join South Korean compatriot Mi Hyun Kim atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the Wegmans LPGA at Pittsford, N.Y.

In-Kyung Kim, the 19-year-old native of Seoul, whose best finish was a tie for fourth at last month's LPGA Corning Classic, ran off six birdies at the tree-lined Locust Hill course but gave up the outright lead with a three-putt bogey on the last hole.

"I'm still having fun and I have two more days to go," she said. "I think right now I'm in a good position and I can try to win this weekend."

Eight-time tour winner Mi Hyun Kim (68) had five birdies through 11 holes but lost momentum with four holes to play when she three-putted from 30 feet for her only bogey.

Both of them moved to 7-under 137, two ahead of Angela Stanford (69).

CHAMPIONS

WATSON OPENS WITH 65

A year after the Bank of America Championship at Concord, Mass., was flooded out before a single shot was played, Tom Watson weathered two rain delays to shoot a 7-under 65 in the first round. Two-time runner up Tom Purtzer was a stroke back at the Nashawtuc Country Club course.

John Jacobs was third at 5 under, and two-time winner Larry Nelson was among seven tied for fourth and three strokes off the lead.

EUROPEAN PGA

FASTH AHEAD BY TWO

Niclas Fasth took over the lead in the BMW International at Munich, German, with a 65 that put him two shots ahead of Peter Hanson at 12 under par.

France's Thomas Levet (67), Andres Romero (68) of Argentina and Jose-Filipe Lima (70) of Portugal were 9-under. Hanson shot 66.

PGA PRO CHAMPIONSHIP

HAWAI'I TRIO MISS CUT

All three Hawai'i golfers missed the cut after the second round yesterday at the PGA Professional National Championship at Sunriver, Ore.

Hilo's Kevin Hayashi shot a 4-over-par 75 and finished tied for 103rd at 148. Brendan Moynahan of Kamuela finished tied for 279 with an 80—159. Kihei's Eliot Gouveia was tied for 295th after an 83—161.

The low 70 scores and ties advanced to the weekend.

Ryan Benzel (71), an assistant pro at Seattle Golf Club, and Mike Small (67), the head coach at the University of Illinois, shared a one-stroke lead after the second round at 137.