AT&T Champions Classic: Second-round notebook

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VALENCIA, Calif. -- This marks the first time in his Champions Tour career that Brad Bryant has held sole possession of the lead going into the final round. In his previous four wins, Bryant came from behind in the final round to win. The last time he held sole possession of the lead on the PGA TOUR came in 1997 when he had a two-stroke advantage over Steve Jones and Paul Stankowski at the Tucson Chrysler Classic. He eventually finished tied for third.

Brad Bryant has the lead at Valencia CC while his brother Bart shares the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. (Feldman/Getty Images)

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• Brad Bryant shares the distinction of being atop the leaderboard in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event with his brother, Bart, going into Sunday's final round. Bart is among five players tied for the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando where he shares the lead with Tiger Woods, Sean O'Hair, Bubba Watson and Vijay Singh at 6 under par.

• The winner of the AT&T Champions Classic will receive 240 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. Scott Hoch, who withdrew prior to the start of the event with a bad back, leads that race with 488 points thru last week's Toshiba Classic. Bernhard Langer, the winner at Newport Beach, moved into second place with 414 points. Rounding out the top five are Jay Haas (327), Fred Funk (300) and Brad Bryant (299).

• Brad Bryant's two-stroke lead is the largest in this tournament since Gil Morgan held a three-stroke margin in 2004. Morgan went on to win the event. Since the event moved to the Valencia Country Club in 2001, the player who led or shared the 36-hole lead has won the event four of seven times -- Jim Colbert (2001), Tom Purtzer (2003), Gil Morgan (2004) and Tom Kite (2006).

• Brad Bryant was outstanding on the par-5 holes on Saturday, making an eagle and three birdies on the four holes during his round. Bryant finished his round on Saturday with six consecutive one putts, and he needed just 12 putts on the back nine.

• So far in 2008, four of the five tournament winners have come from behind in the final round. The lone exception came last week when second-round leader Bernhard Langer prevailed in a playoff with Jay Haas. The largest come-from-behind win in tournament history came in 2005 when Des Smyth made up six strokes the final day to defeat Mark McNulty and D.A. Weibring by one stroke.

• Here's one tournament oddity. In the last 12 years in this event, the first name of the winner contained just three letters.

• Loren Roberts now has 17 consecutive rounds of par or better, the longest current streak on the Champions Tour after a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday.

• It was just a year ago that Roberts set a new Champions Tour record when he posted 37 consecutive rounds of par or better. The streak started near the end of the 2006 season. On the subject of streaks, Jay Haas posted his 11th consecutive sub-par round when he shot a 4-under-par 68. That is the best streak on the Champions Tour in 2008.

• The two most difficult holes on Saturday were Nos. 6 and 7. There were no birdies on No. 6 and only Mark McNulty made a birdie on No. 7. One day after the field averaged 73.316 on the Valencia layout, that average jumped a slight bit to 73.325 on Saturday. In fact, the country club has ranked as one of the most-difficult courses on the Champions Tour. In 2002, 2005 and 2006, it was the most difficult non-major course on the Champions Tour.

• Defending champion Tom Purtzer shot a 1-over-par 73 on Saturday and is currently tied for seventh. Raymond Floyd (bad back) and Craig Stadler (illness) withdrew prior to the start of their rounds on Saturday.

• It was 21 years ago on Saturday (1987) that Don Pooley sank a 4-iron on No. 17 in the final round of the Hertz Bay Hill Classic for an ace and a $1 million prize. Half of the $1 million was donated to the Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital, and Pooley earned the other $500,000. He received $2,083.33 in monthly installments for the next 20 years.