Tanigawa, Day, Ames share Chubb Classic lead

NAPLES, Fla. — Ken Tanigawa had six back-nine birdies in a 5-under 66 for a share of the Chubb Classic lead Saturday with Glen Day and Stephen Ames.

Tanigawa rebounded from bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 with birdies on Nos. 10-12, 14, 15 and 17 at The Classics at Lely Resort.

"I never felt all that comfortable early on and it kind of showed," Tanigawa said. "I kind of hung in there, then I made those two bogeys on 8 and 9, which was easy to do. I made a nice putt on 10 to make a birdie and just tried to stay patient and plug away. I started hitting better shots and making some putts and got some momentum my way."

He won the PURE Insurance Championship in September at Pebble Beach for his lone PGA TOUR Champions title.

Day birdied the final two holes for a 66.

"I made a double on the front nine," Day said. "Other than that, everything was real solid. You're going to get a lot of birdie opportunities out here, so you've got to stay patient."

Ames, tied for the first-round lead with Sandy Lyle after a then-course record 63, had a 68 to keep a share of the top spot at 11-under 131.

"I'm quite happy to be in the position I'm in," Ames said. "Tomorrow's another day."

Kevin Sutherland broke the day-old course record with a 62, birdieing six of his first eight holes in a round that started on No. 10.

"I hit it better than I did yesterday and got in a rhythm early and I putted well," Sutherland said. "I made all the putts I needed to make and made a couple that probably were a gift."

Sutherland was a stroke back with Bernhard Langer (64), Colin Montgomerie (63), Woody Austin (65), Tom Byrum (65), Dan Olsen (67) and Kent Jones (67).

The 61-year-old Langer, the Oasis Championship winner last week near his home in Boca Raton, won the event in 2011, 2013 and 2016.

Tour newcomer Retief Goosen (65) and Steve Stricker (66) topped the group at 9 under.

"I've been giving myself some opportunities around here the first couple of days and just not getting it in there, not knocking 'em in," Stricker said. "I'll hit good putts, a lot of misreads. I'll hit a few bad putts. I'm just struggling on getting it in the hole."

Lyle followed his opening 63 with a 71 to drop into a tie for 15th at 8 under. Jay Haas also was 8 under, shooting a 70 a day after the 65-year-old player bettered his age with a 64.

Glen Day, 65-66 – 131 (-11)

• Day was 1-over for the day after making double bogey on the par-3 fourth. He was 6-under over his last 14 holes, and birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 put him into a three-way tie for the lead. His two-day total of 131 matches his career best (2018 3M Championship).
• Day leads the field in driving accuracy (35 of 36 fairways).
• This is the second time Day enters the final round as a leader/co-leader. At the 2017 Principal Charity Classic, he was a 36-hole co-leader and finished T13 after a final-round 76.
• He has 15 top-10s in 71 starts on Tour, and his best finish was a tie for second at the 2018 Principal Charity Classic. His only win on the PGA TOUR came at the 1999 RBC Heritage, and a win on Sunday would break a winless streak of 19 years, 9 months, 30 days (322 PGA TOUR starts, 71 PGA TOUR Champions starts).

Ken Tanigawa, 65-66 – 131 (-11)

• The 2018 Rookie of the Year was 1-over for the day after bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9, but he rebounded with a 6-under 30 on the back nine en route to a 5-under 66 and an 11-under 131, his second-best 36-hole total (Best: 130/2018 Boeing Classic).
• Sunday will be the third time he starts the final round as a leader/co-leader. From that position, he won the 2018 PURE Insurance Championship and finished T3 at the 2018 Boeing Classic.
• He opened the year with a T8 finish at the Oasis Championship, his fourth career top-10.

Stephen Ames, 63-68 – 131 (-11)

• The 11-under 131 total is the best two-day score of Ames’ career. His previous best was 7-under 133 at the 2015 Shaw Charity Classic.
• Sunday will be the second time Ames starts the final round as a leader/co-leader. He led by one after 36 holes at the 2017 Mitsubishi Electric Classic, and he won by four after a final-round 66.
• With a win, Ames would be the second winner in the last 11 tournaments to make a hole-in-one (Scott McCarron/2018 Shaw Charity Classic). Ames and McCarron are the last two players to make an ace on PGA TOUR Champions.
• Ames will play in Sunday’s final group for the fourth time in his last six starts. He played in Sunday’s final pairing at all three Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs events in 2018. He posted finishes of T15-T3-T5 and was 21st in the final Charles Schwab Cup standings.

Bernhard Langer, 68-64 – 132 (-10)

• The Chubb Classic is one of 10 tournaments Langer has won multiple times (2011, 2013, 2016). If he wins Sunday, this would be the second tournament he has won four times (Insperity Invitational) and it would be the fifth time he has won in back-to-back starts.
• Of his 39 wins on PGA TOUR Champions, 14 have been final-round comebacks. He has started the final round as the leader/co-leader in each of his last seven victories. His last come-from-behind win was the 2017 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (started the final round second, one shot behind Vijay Singh).
• If he wins, this would be the eighth straight season he has won at least two tournaments. Hale Irwin won multiple tournaments 11 straight years (1995-2005) and holds the Tour record.

Other Notes

• Four players are bogey-free through 36 holes: Stephen Ames (T1/-11), Bernhard Langer(T4/-10), Dan Olsen (T4/-10) and Billy Andrade (T22/-7).
• Woody Austin is part of the seven-way tie for third fourth at 10-under. On Saturday he shot 6-under 65, his 35th consecutive round of par or better, the longest active streak on Tour. Jay Haas and Colin Montgomerie share the Tour record (38).
• Kevin Sutherland (T4/-10), the 2017 Charles Schwab Cup champion shot a 9-under 62 Saturday, breaking the course record. He is the only player to shoot 59 on PGA TOUR Champions (2014 DICK’S Sporting Goods Open) and he also shot 60 at last year’s Boeing Classic.
• With a win, Sutherland would be the third straight Charles Schwab Cup champion to win this season. Tom Lehman (2011, 2012) and Bernhard Langer (2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018) won the year’s first two events.
• Before going winless in 2018, Colin Montgomerie (T4/-10) had a win in four consecutive seasons on PGA TOUR Champions. A win on Sunday would break a winless streak of 30 tournaments (Last win: 2017 SAS Championship).
• Dan Olsen (T4/-10) earned one of four open qualifying spots when he shot 69 at The Forest Country Club’s Bear Course. His only other start was at the 2018 Senior Open Championship at St. Andrews (MC/71-76), and he finished 26th at the final stage of PGA TOUR Champions Q-School last December. He leads the field in Greens in Regulation (31/36).
• With a win, Olsen would be the first Open Qualifier to win since Willie Wood won the 2012 DICK’S Sporting Goods Open. In 2018, Open Qualifiers combined for just four top-10s (Best: Tom Gillis/T3, 3M Championship).
• Tom Byrum (T4/-10) birdied four of his last five holes en route to a 6-under 65. At last week’s Oasis Championship, he was T5 through two rounds but finished T19 after a final-round 74.
• Kent Jones (T4/-10) offset eight birdies with two bogeys and one double bogey en route to a 4-under 67.
• Hale Irwin, 73, shot 1-over 72 and bettered his age for the second day in a row. It was the 41st time he has shot/bettered his age on PGA TOUR Champions, and he leads the Tour in that category since 2000.