CHAMPIONS

• Purtzer leads by one at Senior PGA

  
  

  Rochester, NY (Sports Network) - Tom Purtzer posted a three-under 67 Friday to grab a one-shot lead at the halfway point of the Senior PGA Championship.

  Purtzer completed two rounds at even-par 140 thanks to his 67, which tied the second-best round of the day.

  Purtzer, a four-time winner on the Champions Tour, is looking for his first major title on any tour.

  "I just drove it a lot better today and I made a few putts," said Purtzer. "I got off to a really good start. That helped quite a bit. Birdied two of the first three holes. So that gets you off thinking in the right pattern." First-round leader Jay Haas tripped to a two-over 72 to slide to plus-one. He shares second place with Massy Kuramoto (68).

  Bernhard Langer notched his second 71 in as many days and is tied for fourth at two-over-par 142.

  He was joined there by Mark O'Meara, who fired the low round of the championship with his four-under 66. That jumped O'Meara from a tie for 47th into a share of fourth. Jeff Sluman is alone in sixth at plus-three after a 73 on Friday.

  Purtzer played the back nine first on Friday and opened his round with a six- foot birdie putt on the 10th. He dropped his approach within three feet at the 12th and kicked that in for birdie.

  The 57-year-old missed the fairway at the par-four 16th and that led to his first bogey of the day. Purtzer atoned for that mistake with a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club.

  Purtzer parred the first four holes on the front nine. At the fifth, he missed the fairway off the tee and that led to another bogey that dropped him to plus-two for the championship.

  He ran home a 12-footer for birdie on the seventh to get back to plus-one and a share of the lead. Purtzer poured in a 25-foot birdie effort at the ninth, his last, to gain the lead.

  "All in all it was a pretty good day. I hit the ball pretty good, I'm fairly satisfied with the way I'm hitting it," Purtzer stated. "So much depends on where you hit your tee shot. I feel like I'm swinging better this week. It's kind of going in the right direction." Haas played in the group behind Purtzer and opened with five straight pars. He stumbled to double-bogey at the 15th to fall into a share of the lead at plus- one.

  He rebounded with an eight-foot birdie putt at the 18th, then moved back to minus-one by sinking a 15-footer for birdie at the first.

  Haas missed the green at the fifth and that led to a bogey. He fell to plus- one with a bogey at the seventh. Haas parred the last two to share second.

  "All things considered I didn't play nearly as well today," Haas admitted. "It just wasn't quite as sharp. I thought it was a tougher day even though it was cold yesterday, the wind wasn't blowing quite as much. I thought the course was pretty difficult." Kuramoto played in the group behind Haas. He traded a bogey for a birdie from the 13th. Kuramoto moved to plus-two with a birdie on the 16th.

  After five straight pars around the turn, Kuramoto tripped to another bogey at the fourth. He fought back with birdies on five and six to share second place.

  Des Smyth carded an even-par 70 and is tied for seventh place at four-over-par 144.

  He was joined there by Tim Simpson (73), Bill Britton (74) and Jim Woodward (74).

  Scott Hoch, Bruce Fleisher and Greg Norman are among ten players tied for 11th at plus-five. Defending champion Denis Watson struggled to a four-over 74 and fell into share of 21st at plus-six.

  The cut line fell at 12-over-par 152 with 84 players moving on to the final two rounds. Among those missing the cut were 2002 champ Fuzzy Zoeller (153), two-time runner-up Dana Quigley (153) and four-time champion Hale Irwin (155).

  05/23 20:54:55 ET