Kirk Triplett used a baseball analogy and a football analogy when describing his 2019 season to date on PGA TOUR Champions.

Here’s one he didn’t use but it’s applicable, across all sports: Triplett, 57, is in the zone.

After eight events the Arizona native sits a career-high second in the Schwab Cup standings, behind only Scott McCarron. He won the Hoag Classic on March 10, withdrew at the Rapiscan Systems Classic after aggravating his back during the second round, then posted runner-up finishes at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic and the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (with partner Paul Broadhurst). He has a third runner-up finish this year, at the Cologuard Classic, and he has finished inside the top 20 in every event save for the WD in Mississippi and a T51 at the Oasis Championship.

The unassuming Triplett is a little surprised himself.

“Some of the stuff … I’ve been pretty fortunate,” Triplett said Tuesday. “Yeah, I was in position (at the Hoag), but other players could have closed the deal there. Same in Atlanta (MEC). The scoring wasn’t all that good. The conditions were difficult, and last week (Bass Pro) I had a partner and he played great.

“I feel a little bit fortunate. But I know this year for me from a statistical standpoint I have a better conversation rate on greens in regulation. I’ve been making some birdies and more importantly making them when they’re important – the back nine on Sunday. I made two long par putts in Atlanta. I made some birdie putts and an eagle putt in Newport (the Hoag). It just seems I’ve done a better job with my timely putting. I’m not getting a bases empty double with two outs down four runs in the ninth. I’m getting a bases-loaded-double-to-take-the-lead kind of thing. That’s the best way I can explain it.”

So Triplett leads PGA TOUR Champions in RBIs. He has become an indefatigable player. He never seems too high or too low, and thus he never seems too far from making a run. In the six events in which he finished and didn’t have a partner, he has five final rounds in the 60s. He eagled the second playoff hole to beat Woody Austin at the Hoag.

Triplett pointed to a lesson in June 2018 and some minor changes to his swing plane and position that helped put his game back on track.

“Maybe two or three years ago I started to feel like physically it was getting away from me a little bit,” Triplett said. “In midsummer last year I got a good lesson, got some stuff in my technique ironed out and started hitting it pretty consistently. I’m pretty happy with where my game is.

“There was no real change so much as just a better understanding of sort of getting my right side out of the way on the takeaway. I stand on top of the ball and tuck the club underneath going back and make sure I cut it coming through, and I just wasn’t strong enough to play that way anymore. Now I get the club going around me a little bit more. I’m hitting better quality shots and more control of my trajectory. The contact has been more consistent over the past six months than it has been in three or four years. For me that’s a big deal.”

Go back a calendar year to Triplett and Broadhurst winning the Bass Pro Shops event. Triplett has been as consistent as anyone on PGA TOUR Champions since then. In 22 events he has 12 top-10 finishes and his sixth and seventh Champions victories compared to three wins on PGA TOUR.

Triplett’s best finish in the Schwab Cup race was sixth in 2014. He’s aware of his second-place standing at the moment, but he says he’ll concentrate on playing the way he has been. He isn’t looking ahead or setting any bar, but of course a Schwab Cup would be nice.

“I’m trying to win the Schwab Cup every year,” said Triplett, who went home to Arizona instead of straight on to Houston for this week’s Insperity Invitational for two days of rest and relaxation. He’ll arrive there on Wednesday; he said he’s familiar enough with the course not to need to be there on Monday. “It’s like they say: ‘You go to play some college football somewhere and you’re really, really good but guess what? Everybody else is on scholarship, too.’

“I feel more confident than I’ve felt in a long time. Sometimes confidence mixed in with good play makes you a pretty dangerous player.”