The ACE Group Classic: Second-Round Notebook

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NAPLES, Fla. -- Second-round leader Tom Jenkins has won four of 10 times he has gone into the final round as the leader or co-leader. The last time he was in this position was at the 2006 SAS Championship in Cary, N.C., but the final round was cancelled due to rain and he was the declared the winner. His other wins came at the 2000 and 2002 AT&T Canada Senior Open Championships and the 1999 Bell Atlantic Classic,

Gary Koch will return to his regular job on the NBC broadcast team in a few weeks. (Miller/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Tom Jenkins 132 -12 T2. Nick Price 134 -10 T2. Scott Hoch 134 -10 T2. Ron Streck 134 -10 T2. Gary Koch 134 -10 T2. Peter Jacobsen 134 -10 T7. Chip Beck 135 -9 T7. Loren Roberts 135 -9 T9. Graham Marsh 136 -8 T9. Jeff Sluman 136 -8 T9. Joe Ozaki 136 -8 T9. Bruce Lietzke 136 -8 T9. Bruce Fleisher 136 -8

• Sixty-year-old Tom Jenkins is also bidding to become the 18th player aged 60 and older to win a Champions Tour event. The last 60-year-old to win was Gil Morgan at the 2007 Principal Charity Classic in Iowa.

• Tom Jenkins' 8-under-par 64 was Saturday's low round, one better than Gene Jones, who earned a berth in the event via open qualifying on Tuesday. Jones' round moved him up 30 spots on the leaderboard.

• Denis O'Sullivan made the first hole-in-one of the 2008 season when he aced No. 12 on Saturday with a 5-iron from 170 yards. It was O'Sullivan's second hole-in-one on the Champions Tour. He made his other at the 2001 Senior PGA Championship. O'Sullivan is playing on a sponsor's exemption this week and is a member of the European Seniors Tour, where he has won six times. This was also the ninth hole-in-one in tournament history.

• O'Sullivan was paired with Scott Hoch and Nick Price on Saturday and the trio was a combined 4 under par on No. 12. In addition to O'Sullivan's ace, Hoch and Price both made birdies on the hole.

• Seventy-two-year-old Gary Player bettered his age by two strokes when he shot a 2-under-par 70. It was the eighth time in his career Player has accomplished the feat. He has also matched his age 10 times.

• A total of 240 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race will be awarded to Sunday's winner. Fred Funk currently leads with 300 points, followed by followed by Jerry Pate (285), Scott Hoch (248), Allen Doyle (188) and Brad Bryant (182).

• Ten of the previous 20 tournaments in Naples have been decided by either a playoff or a single stroke. Also in 10 of the 20 events, a player has come from behind in the final round to win, including four of the last six years.

• The winner of the ACE Group Classic has come out of the final grouping in each of the last seven years. The last time it didn't happen was in 2000, when Lanny Wadkins needed a final-round 64 to rally from three strokes back and eventually triumph in a playoff.

• After 43 players finished with sub-par rounds on Friday, that number grew to 50 on Saturday and the scoring average dropped from 70.696 to 70.532 on Saturday. The most difficult hole remains No. 17 with an average score of 4.184 (+.184), while No. 13 is the easiest at 4.449 (-.551).

• After 13 players posted bogey-free rounds on Friday, only Loren Roberts and Ron Streck remain bogey-free after two rounds.

• Among the spectators on site for Saturday's second round was actor/comedian Bill Murray, who was following Scott Simpson and Jeff Sluman's groups. Simpson has been a frequent playing partner of Murray's at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and he also played with Simpson at the 2006 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

• Nick Price is in his best position to perhaps earn his first Champions Tour victory since he trailed Eduardo Romero by two strokes after 54 holes at last year's Senior PGA Championship. Price finished third behind eventual winner Denis Watson and Romero. Price fired a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday and is among five players in second place, two strokes behind Tom Jenkins. Price will be in the final group with Scott Hoch and Jenkins.

• Scott Hoch (currently tied for second) could win for the second consecutive week should he prevail on Sunday. The last player to win back-to-back events on the Champions Tour was Jay Haas at last year's The Principal Charity Classic and Bank of America Championship.

• Gary Koch is among the five players currently tied for second. He is playing on a sponsor's exemption and is competing in his first event since last year's Senior British Open, his only official start of the campaign. Koch tied for second at this event in 2004. A top-10 finish by Koch could earn him a berth in the Champions Tour's next full-field event (Toshiba Classic) in two weeks, but Koch has a previous commitment as a member of NBC's golf broadcast team and will be working the PODS Championship near his home in Tampa that week.

• Joe Ozaki has the fewest putts after two rounds (51) and Brad Bryant leads all players in driving accuracy at 96.43%. Bryant has hit 27 of 28 fairways.

• Bruce Fleisher, Scott Hoch, Curtis Strange and Mark Wiebe have all hit 32 of 36 greens in regulation to pace all players in that category.