Jeremy Roenick takes lead into final day of play at American Century Golf Championship

The crowds were out in force for round two of the 25th Annual American Century Golf Championship in South Lake Tahoe Saturday. The beach on 17 was packed as usual with boaters and sunbathers waiting for their chance to play games of toss and catch with the dozens of celebrities that always join in the fun.

Lightning was headed to Edgewood Tahoe at about 2:30 p.m., just as the final group was playing on 17. The sound of the horn that halts play due to storms didn't seem to damper any spirits as play was able to resume within 45 minutes. Play may have been able to start a bit sooner but the three leaders were in a press conference inside the clubhouse.

Jeremy Roenick, Chad Pfeifer and Mark Rypien were all in good spirits as they spoke to the press.They were very complimentary of each other and one could tell by the comments that Roenick and Rypien are close friends and they've welcomed first time American Century golfer and Iraq War veteran Chad Pfeifer into the fold.

"I think today has been one of my more fun rounds that I've ever played in this tournament," said Roenick.

"We're watching our hero," Rypien said of Pfeifer. During Wednesday night's pairings party at Harrah's, Pfeifer was introduced and for the first time ever a celebrity player received a standing ovation.

"We're watching a guy we look up to," Roenick said. "There's no handicap in him. I'm trying to hit the ball to make sure I stay up with Chad right now. And I think that says a lot. And I hope we play again together tomorrow."

"I've had a blast today, Pfeifer said when asked what he thought about his playing today with Rypien and Roenick. "They're both great players, and it means a lot for them to say that about me.

Roenick did have to apologize for his action on 14. He used a finger gesture to a good friend of his who razzed him about a great bunker shot. "He hit an unbelievable bunker shot to about four feet," explained Rypien. "Of course his buddy goes, "Annika hit it better than you did."

"I apologize to anybody that saw that little gesture, but I was having fun with a friend of mine," said Roenick.

Following close behind and rounding off the top ten are Roenick(48), Pfeifer (44) and Rypien (43) are Annika Sorenstam and Jack Wagner (42), Trent Dilfer (41) Mark Mulder (40) Sterling Sharpe (39), Eric Gagne (38) and Carson Palmser (38).

The standings:

1 Roenick, Jeremy 48 23 25
2 Pfeifer, Chad 44 24 20
3 Rypien, Mark 43 22 21
4 Sorenstam, Annika 42 21 21
4 Wagner, Jack 42 19 23
6 Dilfer, Trent 41 19 22
7 Mulder, Mark 40 15 25
8 Sharpe, Sterling 39 20 19
9 Gagne, Eric 38 18 20
9 Palmer, Carson 38 16 22
11 Smoltz, John 37 18 19
11 Tolliver, Billy Joe 37 16 21
13 Sakic, Joe 36 21 15
13 Scobee, Josh 36 20 16
15 Rhoden, Rick 35 17 18
15 Black, Lucas 35 14 21
17 Rice, Jerry 34 16 18
18 Faulk, Marshall 33 20 13
19 Curry, Stephen 31 21 10
20 Fish, Mardy 30 19 11
21 Lowe, Derek 29 13 16
22 Elway, John 28 10 18
23 Brown, Tim 26 15 11
23 Eifert, Tyler 26 12 14
25 Rodgers, Aaron 23 13 10
25 Theismann, Joe 23 12 11
25 Del Negro, Vinny 23 6 17
28 McMahon, Jim 22 9 13
29 Wakefield, Tim 21 13 8
29 Carter, Joe 21 12 9
29 Urlacher, Brian 21 12 9
29 Colquitt, Britton 21 12 9
29 Gossage, Goose 21 11 10
34 Coleman, Vince 20 10 10
34 Hudson, Oliver 20 5 15
36 Wells, David 19 9 10
36 Miller, Bode 19 8 11
38 Maddux, Greg 18 13 5
39 Gould, Robbie 15 8 7
40 Smith, Ozzie 14 10 4
40 Ribeiro, Alfonso 14 6 8
40 Lofton, Kenny 14 5 9
43 Williams, Gary 13 13 0
44 Jansen, Dan 12 8 4
44 Bettis, Jerome 12 0 12
46 Testaverde, Vinny 11 11 0
46 Smith, Alex 11 6 5
48 Cornwell, Lisa 10 5 5
49 Janikowski, Sebestian 9 0 9
49 Brodeur, Martin 9 -3 12
51 Stenhouse, Ricky 7 1 6
52 Clemens, Roger 6 4 2
52 Quayle, Dan 6 3 3
54 Harrison, Rodney 3 0 3
55 Millar, Kevin 2 2 0
56 Smith, Emmitt 1 1 0
56 Hamlin, Denny 1 1 0
56 Saberhagen, Bret 1 -6 7
59 Jones, Chipper 0 4 -4
60 Allen, Marcus -2 1 -3
61 Baumgartner, Brian -6 -1 -5
61 Spurrier, Steve -6 -3 -3
63 Rodriguez, Ivan -7 2 -9
64 Davis, Terrell -8 1 -9
64 Eruzione, Mike -8 -10 2
64 McGriff, Fred -8 -12 4
67 O’Hurley, John -9 -8 -1
68 Hawk, AJ -10 -3 -7
69 Fox, John -12 -9 -3
70 Oshie, T.J. -13 -6 -7
71 Don Rooney, Joe -15 -6 -9
71 Waltrip, Michael -15 -7 -8
71 Taylor, Jason -15 -9 -6
74 Peterson, Patrick -16 -15 -1
75 Engvall, Bill -19 -10 -9
76 Edwards, Herm -21 -12 -9
77 DeMarcus, Jay -25 -15 -10
78 Nealon, Kevin -27 -12 -15
78 Young, Steve -27 -16 -11
80 Romano, Ray -29 -14 -15
80 Green, Trent -29 -16 -13
82 Phelps, Digger -33 -21 -12
83 Thicke, Alan -35 -18 -17
84 the Cable Guy, Larry -36 -21 -15
85 Barkley, Charles -66 -32 -34
85 Knight, Hilary -66 -36 -30