Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf: Second-Round Notebook By Phil Stambaugh PGA TOUR Staff  SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Defending Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf champion Jay Haas looks to win his second Champions Tour title in 2007 (Toshiba Classic) on Sunday, and should he win again in Savannah, he would become the first back-to-back champion in the Legends Division since it went to an individual stroke-play event in 2002.  Brad Bryant is hanging at the top despite struggling off the tee. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
• Haas also looks to defend a title for the first time ever in his TOUR career. The closest he's ever come to defending on the PGA TOUR was a T5 at the 1983 Texas Open. On the Champions Tour, he finished T7 in defense of his SBC Championship title at Oak Hills in 2006. • The 2007 Charles Schwab Cup race could change considerably after the dust settles on Sunday at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Jay Haas, the current leader in the Schwab Cup race with 601 points, is also leading the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf and can pick up an additional 395 points with a victory. • However, Haas' closest pursuers in the Schwab Cup race -- Loren Roberts (559 points), Hale Irwin (555 points) and Tom Purtzer (526 points) -- are all in contention this week and could overtake Haas for the overall Schwab Cup lead with a victory. Haas earned last year's Charles Schwab Cup, defeating Roberts by just 20 points, the closest race ever in the six-year history. At the end of the official season, the player earning the most Charles Schwab Cup points will receive a $1 million annuity. • Andy North and Tom Watson successfully defended their title for the second consecutive year in the Raphael Division (team better-ball competition), holding off Gary Koch/Roger Maltbie, the 2003 Raphael Division champions, by one stroke. North and Watson have now gone 108 consecutive holes without a bogey over the course of their three straight victories in the 36-hole event. For the second consecutive year in the final round, North/Watson equaled their record in Savannah for best 18-hole score, shooting 11-under 61. North /Watson shared the $120,000 first-place check. • Jay Haas' 36-hole score of 7-under 137 is the highest total to lead the Legends Division after two days since it went to stroke play in 2002. Since this competition became an official stroke-play event in 2002, second-round leaders have won three of the five events. Second-round leaders/co-leaders have won five of the eight official events played on the Champions Tour this year. • Tom Purtzer's even-par 72 Sunday ended his run of sub-par rounds at 12 consecutive. His streak of 12 consecutive sub-par rounds is tied with Mark O'Meara's streak as a 2007 best on the Champions Tour. • Loren Roberts' 4-under 68 extended his all-time record streak of par/better scores to 37 consecutive. Roberts' run began at the 2006 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last fall. • Hale Irwin is in good position to go over the $30 million mark in combined career earnings (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) Sunday. Irwin, currently T7 in this week's event, has pocketed $29, 949,874 in his TOUR career and should he finish in 15th place or better tomorrow, he would earn enough to eclipse the $30 million mark. • The par-4 sixth hole played as the most difficult, yielding just one birdie (Raymond Floyd) and averaging 4.480 Saturday. Through two rounds, the par-4 18th hole has played the hardest, averaging 4.270. • One day after yielding the highest first-round stroke average since the event moved to Savannah (73.080), the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort & Spa course yielded the lowest second-round stroke average in five years (71.440). The previous low second-round stroke average at this course was 71.566 in 2004. Last year, the course played to a stroke average of 71.959 on Saturday. There were nine rounds in the 60s Saturday, but 27 players broke par. Last year on Saturday, there were 11 rounds in the 60s and 22 players under par. • Keith Fergus ran his streak of holes without a three-putt to 199 straight, the year's longest active streak. • Tom Purtzer hit the longest measured drive of the week Saturday, 323 yards at the par-4 18th hole. ... Wayne Levi hit all 14 fairways in posting his 4-under 68 on Saturday. ... For the second consecutive day, J.C. Snead holed the longest measured putt. After making a 67-foot, 4-inch birdie putt at the 18th hole on Friday, he holed a 54-foot putt to save a bogey at No. 12. ... John Jacobs had 11 one-putt greens Saturday...Raymond Floyd and Fuzzy Zoeller have had just 54 putts through two rounds. ... Jay Haas (1), Brad Bryant (T2), Loren Roberts (T5) and Nick Price (T19) all have made 10 birdies in 36 holes, the most by players in the Legends Division competition. • Don't look for a playoff Sunday at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. There's only been three overtimes in the in the previous 29 Legends events and none since Dale Douglass/Charles Coody went extra holes to defeat Hugh Baiocchi/David Graham in 1998 at the Golf Club of Amelia Island in Florida. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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