Commerce Bank Championship: Second-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- With a three-shot lead after Saturday's second round of the Commerce Bank Championship, Lonnie Nielsen holds sole possession of the lead heading into the final round tomorrow for the first time in his Champions Tour career. He co-led after three rounds of the JELD-WEN Tradition last fall, tied with Bobby Wadkins heading into Sunday. He eventually lost in a playoff to Eduardo Romero. Nielsen's 54th birthday was Friday.  Vicente Fernandez and Curtis Strange enjoyed a brief break from the action Saturday at Eisenhower Park. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)
• For the third consecutive week on the Champions Tour, the 36-hole leader enjoys a three-stroke lead. Lonnie Nielsen's three-stroke advantage after 36 holes equals the largest lead after play on Saturday in Commerce Bank Championship history. Bruce Fleisher led by three strokes in both 1999 and 2000 and went on to win both of those years. Jay Sigel led by three shots through two rounds of the 2001 event but lost to Bobby Wadkins. • This year on the Champions Tour, Hale Irwin (MasterCard Championship at Hualalai), Fred Funk (Turtle Bay Championship), Scott Hoch (FedEx Kinko's Classic) and Jay Haas (Principal Charity Classic) all led by three after 36 holes and went on to win. Tom Purtzer (Bank of America Championship) is the only 36-hole leader with a three-stroke margin who did not prevail. • Tom McKnight and Lonnie Nielsen both have good chances to win for the first time on the Champions Tour Sunday. Should either of them triumph on Sunday, he would become the sixth player, and third consecutive in tournament history, to claim his initial Champions Tour victory on Long Island. Two years ago, Ron Streck (18th start) won his first Champions Tour event at Eisenhower Park and John Harris (97th start) followed Streck last year. Other first-timers on Long Island include Don Bies/1988 (12th start), Dana Quigley/1997 (eighth start) and Bobby Wadkins/2001 (1st start). • Lonnie Nielsen has played in 229 combined TOUR events (124-PGA TOUR, 91-Champions Tour, 14-Nationwide Tour) without a victory. Tom McKnight, an amateur for most of his golf career, played in four PGA TOUR events prior to turning professional and has made 57 career starts on the Champions Tour without registering a win. McKnight's best career finish on the Champions Tour is a T3 at the 2005 Ford Senior Players Championship. • Over the last 19 years, players leading/co-leading after Saturday have gone on to win the Commerce Bank Championship 11 times and five of the last eight years. Thus far in 2007 on the Champions Tour, eight of 15 36/54-hole leaders/co-leaders have won. • The winner of Sunday's event will receive 225 Charles Schwab Cup points in the season-long race. Jay Haas is the current leader with 1,703 points, 583 points ahead of Denis Watson. Lonnie Nielsen is in 55th place with 38 Schwab Cup points on the year. • Can Jay Sigel become the oldest winner in Champions Tour history? Sigel is attempting to claim his ninth career victory on the Champions Tour and first since the 2003 Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am near Kansas City. At 63 years, 7 month and 17 days, Sigel would surpass Mike Fetchick as the all-time oldest winner in Champions Tour history. Fetchick won the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational on his 63rd birthday. • When Gary Player won on Long Island in 1998 at 62 years, 9 months and 22 days, he became the second-oldest winner in Champions Tour history. Bobby Wadkins' victory in 2001 on Long Island came 10 days after he turned 50, making him the youngest winner in Champions Tour annals. • John Harris is within striking distance of successfully defending his Commerce Bank Championship title. Successful title defenses are common at this event. George Archer claimed this tournament three straight times (1990, 1991, 1992), while Lee Trevino won in both 1994 and 1995. Bruce Fleisher claimed back-to-back crowns in 1999 and 2000 while Jim Thorpe won consecutive times in 2003 and 2004. Harris came from five strokes off the lead to win last year. Lee Trevino holds the tournament record, coming from seven strokes back to win in 1995 at the MeadowBrook Club. • After playing to a stroke average of 70.321 yesterday, the Red Course at Eisenhower Park yielded a field scoring average of 70.026 Saturday. There were 36 rounds in the 60s Saturday compared to 26 Friday. 43 of 78 players broke par, one more than Friday. • The par-4 14th hole played as the most difficult Saturday with a scoring average of 4.295. The hole yielded just four birdies (Lonnie Nielsen, John Jacobs, Denis Watson, Sam Torrance) today. Through two rounds, the par-4 fourth still has the highest stroke average at 4.269, yielding just eight birdies. • Should Curtis Strange rally to win Sunday, it would be his first win on TOUR since the 1989 U.S. Open at Oak Hill near Rochester, N.Y., and would end a victory drought of 18 years, 12 days or 307 combined starts on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour (257-PGA TOUR/50-Champions Tour). • 72-year-old Jimmy Powell bettered his age for the second time in his Champions Tour career after posting an even-par 71 Saturday. Powell last bettered his age at this same event in 2002 when he carded a 66 at age 67. He's also matched his age two other times in competition. Powell joined Gary Player, Dale Douglass, Jim Dent and Bob Charles as the fifth different player to better his age on the Champions Tour in 2007. • John Harris had the longest measured drive of the day, belting his tee shot 338 yards at No. 15 Saturday. ... John Mazza hit 13 of 14 fairways Saturday. ... John Harris, Mark James and Bobby Wadkins all hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. ... Jim Dent and Lonnie Nielsen only had 24 putts in their rounds Saturday. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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