By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

PORTLAND – Sitting at the scoring table in the pro shop at Riverside Golf Course, Jeff Martin balanced his son, just a toddler, on his knee. His wife, Sue, had just carried his bag for 18 holes at the TD Banknorth Portland Open, while he and his son started to add up his scorecard.

“Can you say what that number is?” Martin prodded, as his son just giggled along.

As low as Martin shot Friday, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that the little boy could add the whole thing up.

Martin fired a tournament-low 65, with seven birdies and no bogeys, to take a one-shot lead going into today’s final round at the course he once called home.

“It’s exciting to be leading here,” said Martin. “I knew that if I birdied the last hole today, I would probably be in the lead in the clubhouse, so I just looked at my wife and said, Let’s do it.'”

His approach sailed to 10 feet, and he drained the uphill putt to secure the low score. Of course, putting the ball where he did on the green took a bit of local knowledge.

“I actually put it a bit to the right of where I wanted,” said Martin, who played high school golf for Portland High School, graduating in 1992. Martin now lives in Warwick, R.I.

Martin leads a sizable and quality-laden field into today’s final round. This year, thanks to a partnership with TD Banknorth, the event’s purse will allocate $15,000 to the winner. That alone drew several of the top players on the Cleveland Tour, a professional tour concentrated in the Northeast.

Just behind Martin, with a two-day total of 134 (7-under par) are Rob Oppenheim of Andover, Mass., Todd Westfall of Clendenin, W.Va. and David Spitz of Norwell, Mass. One more shot behind that group are Brian Lamberti of Ellenville, N.Y., Jim Hallet of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. and Mo Guttman of Sarasota, Fla.

None of the players tied for the lead after the first day with a 5-under-par 66 was able to hang on to the top position. Spitz came the closest, though, following his 66 Thursday with a 68 on Friday.

Those starting earlier in the day Friday, despite a mist that some golfers called “annoying,” enjoyed better scores than those teeing off later.

“It wasn’t like it was a hard rain out there, but it was enough where you had to have an umbrella,” said Lamberti. “It’s what I expected in the morning, though. The greens were perfect. There were no footprints anywhere.”

Oppenheim started well early, too – much better than he had Thursday.

“(Thursday) was a bit more windy,” said Oppenheim. “I got off to a bad start (Friday). The pins were fair and the greens were soft. You could go right at them. There were birdies out there, but if you weren’t careful, there were plenty of bogeys, too.”

Windham’s Shawn Warren, who starts today tied with Ricky Jones of Thomaston and Ben Daughan of York as the low amateur in the field, had perhaps the best finish Friday. Warren made five consecutive 3s on four par-4s and a par-3 to finish with a second-round 68, leaving him at 138, 4-under par for the tournament. Warren is the defending champion of the Maine Open, which he won last year at Riverside in a playoff.

“I really didn’t have my best stuff on the first 27 holes of this tournament,” said Warren, who plays for Marshall University. “Toward the end of the round I started hitting driver everywhere because I knew I had to be aggressive. When you only have to chip on a second shot, it’s easier to get it inside 10 feet.”

Jones, the two-time defending Maine Amateur champion, followed his first-round 66 with a 72 to also finish at 138, along with Daughan, who shot 70-68.

The low Maine professional this weekend is John Hickson of Newry and the new -pro at Sunday River Golf Club. Hickson sits at 2-under-par 140, seven shots back of the lead. Bob Darling Jr., of Lewiston and the Director of Golf at Fox Ridge in Auburn, made the cut with an even par 142, as did Mike Baker of Stratton, the pro at Sugarloaf.

Pros Terry Hatch and Tim Angis of Saco also made the field of 47, as did amateur Gary Manoogian of Westbrook. The first tee time today is at 7:30 a.m., and the leaders are scheduled to tee off at 10.