Second-round notebook: Triton Financial Classic

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LAKEWAY, Texas -- Bernhard Langer's birdie on the par-5 17th hole is the difference after 36 holes at the Triton Financial Classic. Langer has a 36-hole total of 134, one stroke better than Gene Jones, who posted a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday, the day's low round. Langer's bogey at No. 16 dropped him back into a tie with Jones, but he sank a 10-foot putt at No. 17 to regain the lead. Jeff Sluman and Mark O'Meara are tied for third at 137 and are three behind Langer.

• Langer is bidding to become the first wire-to-wire winner on the Champions Tour in 2009 as well as the first to accomplish that feat in this event. His only other wire-to-wire victory on the Champions Tour came at the 2007 Administaff Small Business Classic near Houston.

• Here is a breakdown on how the previous 36-hole leaders/co-leaders in this tournament finished in the event.

• Sunday's winner will earn 240 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race with additional points being awarded to other top-10 finishers. Langer currently holds a 202-point lead over Michael Allen (922 to 720). Loren Roberts is third with 625 followed by Larry Mize (593) and Keith Fergus (570).

• Langer has won three of four events when holding sole possession of the lead on the Champions Tour. He owns wins at the 2007 Administaff Small Business Classic, the 2008 Toshiba Classic and the 2008 Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach when in the lead after 36 holes. Langer was also the 54-hole leader at the 2008 Senior PGA Championship but finished second.

Related

Leaderboard: Round 2 scores
Round 3 tee times

• Here are Bernhard Langer's statistics thru two rounds.

Fairways Hit -- 23 of 28 (82.1%/T2)
Greens in Regulation -- 28 of 36 (77.8%/T2)
Putts Per Round -- 27.0/T7
Driving Distance -- 298.8/10

• Gene Jones has never played in a final group with Jeff Sluman or Langer, but Sluman and Langer were paired twice in 2008 at the Toshiba Classic (won by Langer) and the Senior PGA Championship (won by Jay Haas). Jones did play in the final group at the ACE Group Classic and eventually finished second.

• Bobby Wadkins withdrew after four holes on Saturday with a back injury.

• With the addition of some wind on Saturday (10-15 mph from the S/SE), the scoring average rose from 72.215 in Round 1 to 73.154 in Round 2. There were just 12 rounds in the 60s compared to 17 on Friday and 26 rounds below par compared to 40 a day earlier.

• Could Mark O'Meara pick up his first Champions Tour victory on Sunday? O'Meara shot a 3-under-par 69 on Saturday and is T3, three strokes behind Bernhard Langer. O'Meara is winless in 40 starts on the Champions Tour.

• Big move of the day was by Lonnie Nielsen, who shot a 5-under-par 67, an improvement of seven strokes over his effort on Friday. It helped him jump from a T54 to a T14.

• Once again, hole No. 4 was the most difficult with an average score of 4.513 (+.513). It averaged 4.405 (+.405) in the opening round.

• Ty Detmer and Chris Weinke finished tied for first in the Heisman Winners Fore Charity competition. The pair each won $4,000 for the Triton Youth Foundation.

• Langer and Mike McCullough each have 13 birdies through two rounds, one more than Kite.