SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen matched the low round of the day Wednesday with a 6-under 65 and holds a two-stroke lead over Dicky Pride and Freddie Jacobson after 36 holes at the PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying Tournament (Final Stage) at TPC Scottsdale's Champions Course.

“It’s been a brilliant two days,” said Kjeldsen, who sits at 13-under after two rounds. “My game is in a good place. I feel like my mind is in a good place. I look forward to the next two days.”

Kjeldsen, who co-led with Pride after the opening round, played his first 17 holes on Wednesday in 8-under before double-bogeying the par-4 18th.

“I played nicely and then obviously had a disappointing finish, but the first 16 holes were brilliant,” Kjeldsen said. “It’s never smooth sailing the whole round. It’s a bit tough when it comes at the end but sometimes it’s just like that.”

Kjeldsen, the medalist at last month’s First Stage Q-School site at Grand Bear Golf Club in Mississippi, turns 50 on May 17. From 1998 to 2024, he made 712 starts on the DP World Tour, which ranks third all-time behind only David Howell (726) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (723).

Playing alongside Kjeldsen in the final grouping, Jacobson and Pride shot 66 and 67, respectively, and each sat at 11-under. Jacobson, who turned 50 in September, owns one win on the PGA TOUR, which came at the 2011 Travelers Championship.

“I struck it really well all day,” Jacobson said. “I actually felt like I left a lot out there today. Unfortunately, I was struggling with my putting and couldn’t find the lines after that. I didn’t really make anything. The birdies I made, I hit it close. The bogey I made (on No. 5), I three-putted from 20 feet on the fringe.”

Pride bogeyed No. 1 before playing his final 17 holes without a blemish, making five birdies along the way. The 55-year-old has made 102 starts on PGA TOUR Champions dating back to 2019 and won the 2021 Mitsubishi Electric Classic.

Australian Scott Barr, 52, shot 67 for the second consecutive day and sits in solo fourth at 8-under.

“I played the Asian Tour for 17 years, living in Singapore for 20 years, and I moved back to Australia four or five years ago and started the senior campaign slowly when I turned 50,” Barr said. “I’ve juiced up my preparation the last couple years in Australia. I thought this was the time. This was my year to come here. It’s always been my dream to play the Champions Tour.”

Stephen Gallacher, the 2014 European Ryder Cup team member who turned 50 last month, matched Kjeldsen for the low round of the day with a bogey-free 65. Gallacher, who hails from Scotland, moved from T29 to T5 on the leaderboard and sits at 7-under at the halfway point along with Mario Tiziani.

At the end of four rounds, the top-five finishers will be fully exempt into open, Full Field Events for PGA TOUR Champions in the 2025 season. In addition, players finishing sixth through 30th will be eligible to compete in open qualifiers on PGA TOUR Champions in 2025.

Tee times for Thursday’s third round will run from 8:30-10:42 a.m. (MT) off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees at TPC Scottsdale.