Boeing Championship: Second-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff DESTIN, Fla. -- Jay Haas is bidding to claim his third victory on the Champions Tour this year. Haas won earlier in the season at the Toshiba Classic and successfully defended his Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf title in Savannah in late April. A Haas victory Sunday would be his ninth career title on the Champions Tour and would equal his PGA TOUR win total.  Two back-nine bogeys on Saturday kept Tom Purtzer from taking the lead. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)
• Neither Jay Haas nor Tom Purtzer has ever won an official TOUR event in the state of Florida. However, both players are in good position to end significant victory droughts in the Sunshine State. Purtzer's current drought without an official win stands at 0-122 (0-22 on the Champions Tour), while Haas' winless streak in Florida is 0-107 (0-5 on the Champions Tour). Purtzer did win a pair of team titles with two different LPGA players in the old unofficial JCPenney Classic near Clearwater. • Jay Haas is 4-6 when leading/co-leading going into the last round of a Champions Tour event. Earlier this year, he eventually won both the Toshiba Classic and Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf when leading after 36 holes. • In the previous 12 events, seven second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the Boeing Championship at Sandestin, including six of the last eight champions. Thus far on the Champions Tour in 2007, seven of the 12 official events played have been won by players leading/co-leading going into the final round. • Jay Haas' 13-under 129 through 36 holes ties his second-lowest 36-hole score on the Champions Tour. He was 16-under 128 after 36 holes in the 2006 Administaff Small Business Classic, which he won, and 13-under 129 in the 2007 Toshiba Classic, which he also won. • The winner of the Boeing Championship at Sandestin will receive a check for $247,500 and will pick up an additional 248 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. Jay Haas is poised to add to his lead. Through 12 official events, Haas currently has 1,142 points and Denis Watson is second with 1,022 points. Brad Bryant (819), Tom Kite (792) and Hale Irwin (791) round out the top five. Haas earned last year's Charles Schwab Cup. At the end of the season, the player accumulating the most Schwab Cup points will earn a $1 million annuity. • Gary Player bettered his age for the third time this year with a 1-under 70 Saturday. The 71-year-old Player has now shot his age or better six times in 2007. Player's fellow competitor Saturday, Steve Thomas, improved his score 14 strokes from Friday, carding a 7-under 64 on Saturday. • David Eger and Larry Nelson both made eagles on the two par 5s on the back nine Saturday (No. 11/No.17) to become the 10th and 11th different players to record two eagles in a round this year. Eger's 64 Saturday matched his career-low score on the Champions Tour (fifth time) and vaulted him up 34 spots into a T8, the biggest move of any player in the field on Saturday. • A total of seven eagles were made Saturday but James Mason made the only eagle on a par 4. Mason's drive at the 321-yard 15th hole ended up in the fringe and he converted a 16-foot putt for a deuce. • Statistical Notes: Tom Purtzer hit the longest measured drive today (343 yards, par-5 17th). ... Hubert Green, Walter Hall, Tom McKnight, Mark McNulty and Des Smyth missed just one fairway off the tee. ... Morris Hatalsky and David Eger hit 17 of 18 greens Saturday. ... Jerry Pate had just 24 putts Saturday. ... Jim Dent and Tom McKnight one-putted 11 greens. ... Both Mark James and David Eger had 64s Saturday, the low rounds of the day. ... Mark McNulty's 5-under 30 on the front side was the low 9-hole score of the day. • More Statistical Notes: Jay Haas is the only player in the field who is bogey-free through the first 36 holes. ... Though the first two rounds, Larry Nelson has made two eagles and 11 birdies. However, he also has made seven bogeys and a double bogey. ... Tom Putzer, Denis Watson, Mark James and Massy Kuramoto all have made 14 birdies in their first 36 holes. ... Curtis Strange and Hugh Baiocchi lead the field in pars made with 28. • It's almost a safe bet that this event will have a 13th different champion. Through 36 holes, the highest standing by a former winner of this event is T14 -- Bob Gilder (2003), Dana Quigley (1998). Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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