Rod Spittle, turned pro at 49, leads Dick's SG 

Open, Ian Woosnam in the mix

CHAMPIONS TOUR NEWS RELEASE
ENDICOTT, New York -- For Canadian Rod Spittle, just playing on the Champions Tour at age 60 is old hat that never gets old. Now, he finds himself in a most unusual place: alone in the lead for the first time heading to Sunday.
Spittle shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over tour newcomer Scott McCarron (64) and John Huston (68) after the second round of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. Spittle was at 10-under 134.
Huston, the 2011 champion, is trying to become the first two-time winner in the event that started in 2007.
Jeff Maggert (68), Stephen Ames (64), Ian Woosnam (69) and first-round co-leader Paul Goydos (70) were tied for fourth at 8 under, with Corey Pavin (66) and Willie Wood (69) another shot behind.
Spittle, a star at Ohio State University in the late 1970s with Joey Sindelar and John Cook, turned pro at age 49 after working as a corporate insurance executive for 25 years. He won the 2010 ATT and Championship, 106 starts ago.
"I was home being a husband and a dad," said Spittle, who wanted to watch his three children grow up instead of traveling and living out of a suitcase. "We've won all of one time out here. It's fun to have a chance to win. The reason I still play is I think I can win again."
Spittle, who had a 68 on the opening round, had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine, barely missing a fifth birdie when his putt at the par-3 seventh hole stopped at the lip and didn't drop. He had two more birdies and another bogey over the first five holes on the back side, then vaulted into the lead with an eagle at the par-4 No. 16, his chip from 65 yards bouncing twice on the green before hitting the flag and dropping in the hole.
"Folks started jumping up and down, so we guessed right," Spittle said with a chuckle. "I've played very solid this summer, been very consistent the last five or six weeks. We'll see if we can have some more fun tomorrow."
Right behind was McCarron, playing just his fourth event on the Champions Tour since turning 50 in July. He made up considerable ground on the leaderboard as he chases his first victory and said playing in the final group with Schwab Cup points leader Colin Montgomerie at the Shaw Charity Classic at Calgary, Alberta, in early August did wonders for his game.
"It's been a long time," said McCarron, who had three PGA Tour victories, the last at the 2001 BellSouth Classic. "I learned a lot just being in the final group with Colin on Saturday. When you don't get in tournaments on the PGA Tour, you play once a month, once every two months, and you miss every cut by a shot, that's not a lot of fun.
"Being out here, knowing there's no cut, I'm having fun playing golf again," said McCarron, who has overcome surgery for a bone spur and torn ligaments in his left thumb in 2012 and right elbow surgery in 2006. "I'm healthy, I'm happy and I'm in better shape now than I've ever been."
Montgomerie is not playing for a second straight week because of commitments in Europe, giving Maggert and Bernhard Langer a chance to take over the top spot. Montgomerie has 2,873 points, Maggert 2,707 and Langer 2,604 in what has become a three-way competition with four more events until the Schwab Cup Championship in November.
Langer, who won here last year, plummeted with three bogeys in the last six holes Saturday to finish with his second straight 71 and at 2 under is likely out of contention for a top-10 finish and a chance to gain in the points race.
Maggert isn't.
"I need to be a little more aggressive on the front nine tomorrow, make four or five birdies if I can, and set myself up for a good finish," said Maggert, who birdied the three par-5s on the front side but also had a pair of bogeys.
A bogey on his final hole after seven birdies put a frown on Pavin's face. Still, he was just three shots behind and playing well.
"Tomorrow, I've got to go out and probably shoot another score like that to have a chance," said the 55-year-old Pavin, who has 15 PGA Tour wins but just one on the senior tour, three years ago. "We'll just see. I'm in a position where I can make a run, hopefully."
Just like the opening round, conditions on the narrow, tree-lined 6,974-yard En-Joie Golf Club course were ideal, with partly cloudy skies, temperatures around 80, and just the hint of a breeze.

SCOREBOARD

1	Rod Spittle	68	66					134
T2	John Huston	67	68					135
T2	Scott McCarron	71	64					135
T4	Paul Goydos	66	70					136
T4	Stephen Ames	72	64					136
T4	Jeff Maggert	68	68					136
T4	Ian Woosnam	67	69					136
T8	Corey Pavin	71	66					137
T8	Willie Wood	68	69					137
T10	Gene Sauers	66	72					138
T10	Jose Coceres	70	68					138
T10	Bob Friend	68	70					138
T10	Lee Janzen	69	69					138
T14	Steve Jones	68	71					139
T14	Neal Lancaster	69	70					139
T14	Brad Bryant	71	68					139
T14	Marco Dawson	71	68					139
T14	Scott Dunlap	71	68					139
T14	Larry Mize	72	67					139
T14	Jerry Smith	71	68					139
T21	Kevin Sutherland	69	71					140
T21	Joe Durant	74	66					140
T21	Steve Lowery	73	67					140
T21	Duffy Waldorf	72	68					140
T21	Jeff Sluman	73	67					140
T26	Peter Senior	68	73					141
T26	Jay Delsing	69	72					141
T26	Jeff Hart	70	71					141
T26	Wes Short Jr.	69	72					141
T26	Bart Bryant	71	70					141
T26	Bob Gilder	71	70					141
T32	Morris Hatalsky	69	73					142
T32	Mark McNulty	69	73					142
T32	Michael Allen	69	73					142
T32	Brian Henninger	70	72					142
T32	Esteban Toledo	69	73					142
T32	David Frost	71	71					142
T32	Fred Funk	72	70					142
T32	Bernhard Langer	71	71					142
T32	Wayne Levi	73	69					142
T32	Lance Ten Broeck	73	69					142
T42	Tom Kite	70	73					143
T42	Greg Kraft	70	73					143
T42	Joey Sindelar	71	72					143
T42	Tom Byrum	73	70					143
T42	Scott Hoch	72	71					143
T42	Loren Roberts	72	71					143
T42	Grant Waite	76	67					143
T49	Dan Forsman	70	74					144
T49	Jesper Parnevik	70	74					144
T49	Olin Browne	71	73					144
T49	Jay Haas	72	72					144
T49	Peter Jacobsen	71	73					144
T49	Mark Brooks	73	71					144
T49	Mike Goodes	74	70					144
T49	Mark O'Meara	73	71					144
T49	Tommy Armour III	76	68					144
T49	Chien-Soon Lu	74	70					144
T49	Tom Purtzer	74	70					144
T60	Tom Pernice Jr.	74	71					145
T60	Kenny Perry	70	75					145
T60	Woody Austin	77	68					145
T63	Gary Koch	69	77					146
T63	Bob Tway	71	75					146
T63	Bobby Gage	75	71					146
T66	Carlos Franco	71	76					147
T66	John Riegger	71	76					147
T66	Mark Wiebe	72	75					147
T66	Mark Calcavecchia	75	72					147
T66	Sandy Lyle	74	73					147
T66	Jim Thorpe	74	73					147
T66	Guy Boros	76	71					147
T73	Craig Stadler	78	70					148
T73	Fuzzy Zoeller	73	75					148
75	Larry Nelson	76	73					149
76	Jay Don Blake	76	74					150
77	Scott Simpson	79	72					151
78	Steve Pate	79	73					152
79	Nolan Henke	83	76					159
80	Russ Cochran	73	WD					73
81	John Cook	78	DQ					78