Weather: Players off both the first and 10th tees. Partly cloudy, breezy and cool with highs only in the upper-60s and winds from the NW at 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph. Lift, clean and place rules in effect.
Round 2 Leaderboard: T1 -- John Huston (-9/135), Kenny Perry (-9/135), Nick Price (-9/135); 4 -- Jeff Sluman (-8/136); 5 -- Russ Cochran (-7/137); T6 -- Olin Browne (-6/138), Bobby Clampett (-6/138)
John Huston played his last 10 holes in 6-under-par, including three straight birdies to end his round of 66 and Huston forged a three-way tie for the 36-hole lead with Kenny Perry and Nick Price. Perry started strong with three birdies in his first four holes but he played even-par golf over his final 14 holes. Price birdied Nos. 15, 16, 17 but needed an up-and-down save from the greenside bunker at No. 18 to join the leaders. Huston's 66 on Saturday was the low round of the day by two strokes.
For the first time since the inaugural SAS Championship in 2001, three players are tied for the 36-hole lead. Ironically in 2001, Bruce Lietzke, Bobby Wadkins and Jay Overton were tied at 9-under-par 135, the same two-round total score as Huston, Perry and Price. This also equals the high 36-hole score in tournament history.
Second-round leaders have gone on to win six of the previous 10 SAS Championships, including the last two years. On the 2011 Champions Tour, Saturday leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win nine of the 20 official events played thus far.
Stats Comparison of the 36-hole co-leaders:
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The winner of this event has come from the final grouping in seven of the previous 10 SAS Championships, including each of the last four years. On the 2011 Champions Tour, the winner has come from the last group in the last six events (every event since the Senior British Open). Overall on the 2011 Champions Tour, the winner has come from the last grouping in 14 of the 20 official events.
Here's some fun facts on tomorrow's final grouping:
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Perry is shooting to become the third consecutive first-time winner on the Champions Tour. Should he prevail and join Mark Calcavecchia (Boeing Classic) and Jay Don Blake (Songdo IBD Championship), it would mark the first time since 2004 that the Champions Tour had three consecutive first-time winners. In 2004, Mark James (Ford Senior Players Championship), Pete Oakley (Senior British Open) and Peter Jacobsen (U.S. Senior Open) all won for the first time in consecutive events.
There were just 12 scores in the 60s Saturday compared to 23 rounds below 70 Friday. The second-round stroke average of 73.278 was almost two strokes higher than Friday (71.367) and set a tournament record for the highest stroke average in any single round in SAS Championship history. The previous high was 73.169 (Rd. 3/2005).
Olin Browne and Tommy Armour III had the only bogey-free rounds ... Through 36 holes, Kenny Perry has the most birdies (13) ... Tommy Armour III has made just one bogey over the first two rounds and has played his last 27 holes without a bogey.
The hardest hole over the first 36 holes has been the par-4 5th (4.259), yielding just eight birdies. The par-5 17th played as the easiest hole (4.392), yielding 12 eagles and 81 birdies.