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Harrington, 50, recorded a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 on Friday
at Saucon Valley Country Club, leaving him at 6-under 136
overall.
Steve Stricker shot a 2-under 69, and he is just behind
Harrington at 5 under. Another stroke back is Rob Labritz, who
posted his second straight 69.
Gene Sauers (second-round 67), Rocco Mediate (71), first-round
co-leader Jay Haas (72), Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (69) and
New Zealand's Steven Alker (67) are tied for fourth at 3 under.
The other first-round co-leader, Australia's Mark Hensby, shot a
73 on Friday, leaving him tied for ninth at 2 under. He is level
with Doug Barron (68) and Germany's Alex Cejka (69).
Harrington opened with a birdie at No. 10 and had two stretches
of back-to-back birdies.
"I got under par early on," he said. "I felt I lost my way a
little bit in the middle of the round, and then I came back
strong later on. You try a little too hard at times. ...
"It was nice to see I kind of got it back towards the end there
where I felt pretty comfortable."
A three-time major winner on the PGA Tour and European Tour,
Harrington is off to a strong start in his first U.S. Senior
Open.
"It's a much stronger test than I expected," he said. "This is
way, way tougher than our regular Champions tour events. I knew
this was a big advantage to me starting the week, both
length-wise and being able to play from the rough if I am in the
rough."
Stricker opened with a birdie but then had a double bogey on the
par-5 sixth hole. He followed with nine consecutive pars before
finishing birdie-birdie-birdie.
"I had a couple of other opportunities on the back that I didn't
make, but I told my brother-in-law, Mario, who was caddying for
me, let's try to get one or two coming in the last three holes,"
Stricker said. "I wasn't thinking three. Maybe I should have
been.
"Yeah, I just wanted to get back to even really for the day and
ended up birdieing the last three. It was a good way to finish
the day."
Defending champion Jim Furyk barely made the cut after shooting
a 76. He tied for 54th at 5 over.
--Field Level Media
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