Monty is T3, five behind as Rocco Mediate sets 

Senior PGA Championship record low of 128

By Rich Skyzinski

GOLFWEEK.CO 

Rocco Mediate and his caddie, pictured at the 2016 Senior PGA Championship (Getty Images)

BENTON HARBOR, Michigan — When the 77th US Senior PGA Championship has been completed, there will be a massive overhaul of the record books.
Rocco Mediate shot a 5-under-par 66 at Harbor Shores in the second round on Friday for a two-day total of 14-under-par 128, and in the process has erased by four strokes the championship record of the lowest opening 36 holes that had been shared by three Hall of Famers: Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Mediate, who has played his first 36 holes without a bogey, has a four-stroke lead over the rejuvenated Gene Sauers, who made three consecutive birdies late in his round en route to a 2-under 69.
There are some notable names in pursuit of the leaders.
Bernhard Langer, trying to become the first player to win all five senior majors, shot a 7-under-64 to climb into a share of third place with two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie, who had 66 for 133 and is tied third, five behind the leader.
2010 winner Tom Lehman is part of a group of six players at 8-under-par 134, tied for sixth but six strokes back.
And the day’s most astounding scorecard belonged to a player further down in the pack. Kenny Perry shot an even-par 71 that was anything but uneventful. He stumbled to three double bogeys over his opening nine holes, but his incoming nine included a double eagle at the par-5, 566-yard fifth hole. Perry made the 2 when he holed a 5-iron from 227 yards.
The shootout that has transpired over the first two days also has posted the Senior PGA’s lowest 36-hole cut of even par, slashing the previous record of 4 over.
“It’s going to be fun to be back in a cool position and see what I do,” said Mediate. “I had some moments out there where it went a little south, but I covered up with the short game today. I made some ridiculously good putts to save (pars) and I made a bunch of birdies again.
“I haven’t been here in a long time. I’m looking forward to trying to drive it in the first fairway and see what happens from there. That’s all you can really do.”
Three weeks ago, the 53-year-old Sauers changed to a cross-handed putting style and has seen instant improvement. He’s had his two best tournaments since the change, finishing T-12 at both the Insperity Championship in Houston and the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala., and now he’s filled with confidence.
Three of his birdies on Friday were of the easy variety: a two-putt at the par-5 fifth, followed by a tap-in at No. 6 when his 6-iron approach stopped two rolls short of the cup, and a 4-foot putt at the seventh.
“Ever since I went left hand low three weeks ago, I’ve been putting a lot better,” said Sauers, “so I’m going to be right up here now with ’em.
“What made me change? Because I was putting awful. Yeah, I wish I would have changed 10, 20 years ago.”
With the Regions Tradition win he secured last week, Langer has collected four of the five major titles in senior golf. Only the Senior PGA Championship is missing, though he’s been a frequent contender there with four top-10 finishes in seven starts. No player has won all five parts of a career senior Grand Slam.
“I was told last week that nobody’s ever done it before,” Langer said. “I didn’t even know that. It’s always special if you can do something that no one has done. To even think that guys like Nicklaus or Irwin or Watson, I mean, there’s there’s so many legends and great names that have played this tour, that nobody’s ever won all five majors is pretty amazing.
“It would be (special) because the clock is ticking. I’m going to be 59 soon, so the longer I wait, the harder it’s going to get.”
Langer thought his second-round 64 was good in just about every respect.
“I made more putts today and I hit my irons a little closer,” he said. “It’s a little easier to make a 10-foot putt than a 20-foot putt. We all know that.”
Brandt Jobe, playing in his first full season as a senior, had sole possession of the lead at 10 under par until the par-4 18th, where he blocked his tee shot into a hazard right of the fairway on his way to making a double bogey. It was his second double of the day, which put a damper on an eventful round that included birdies at half his holes.
“I’m happy with how I played,” said Jobe. “But every time I tried to get aggressive, I made a mistake. So I think it’s hit it in the right area, give yourself an opportunity and move on. And be a little more patient. I was trying to go and I got caught going.”

Kirk Triplett, also in the group at 8 under, won in each of his first three full years as a senior but did not taste victory in 2015. There wasn’t much to get excited about in his first few months of 2016, but since a T-66 showing at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in April, he’s improved in each of his next three starts, including a T-3 at the Regions Tradition last week.
“It’s just a little bit of everything,” said Triplett, “striking the ball better, making a few more putter, a better frame of mind. It all kind of goes together.”
Triplett has hit every fairway over the first two days at Harbor Shores, but on Friday he missed six greens and got up and down only twice.
“Today I had a couple of hiccups,” he said. “The greens are still receptive, though, and scores are still good. I don’t know what the weather’s going to do. I certaily don’t think 8 under is going to win the golf tournament. So you’ve got to go out there and make some birdies.”
John Daly’s first visit to the Senior PGA was a short one because he couldn’t figure out a way to play the dogleg-left, par-4 16th. After making a 9 there on Thursday, he had a one-putt 6 at the 16th in Round 2 en route to a 3-over-par 74 and a two-day total of 7-over-par 149.
Perry’s double eagle was the first on the PGA Tour Champions since last year’s U.S. Senior Open.
“I hit the prettiest 5-iron,” said Perry. “That’s the first one I ever made. It was pretty neat. I couldn’t see it go in, but when I saw the crowd jump up and down, I knew it went in.”

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