Langer doubles lead at Senior Players
Jun 12, 2015 - 10:11 PM Belmont, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Defending champion Bernhard Langer fired his second straight 6-under 65 on Friday and pushed his lead to four strokes after two rounds of the Senior Players Championship.Langer finished 36 holes at 12-under-par 130. He won five titles, including two majors in 2014, but is winless so far this season on the Champions Tour.
"Somebody said that's pretty boring stuff, 65-65. I don't think it is, I'd like to do that every day," Langer said. "I played better today than I did yesterday and just didn't get quite as much out of the round, but still a pretty good score."
Russ Cochran also fired a 65 to jump into second place at minus-8.
Steve Pate's 8-under 63 at Belmont Country Club was the low round of the day. He soared 45 spots into a tie for third at 6-under-par 136. Pate was joined there by Jesper Parnevik (66) and two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen (69).
Kevin Sutherland (66) and Guy Boros (70) are tied for sixth at minus-5. Loren Roberts, the 2007 champion, carded his second 69 in as many days. He headlines a group of six players at 4-under-par 138.
Langer got off to a quick start as he dropped his approach at the first six feet from the hole and he rolled that in for birdie. After four pars in a row, he drained a 14-foot birdie effort at the sixth.
The German moved to 9-under as he stuffed his second shot at No. 8 to three feet and he kicked that in for birdie.
Langer kept rolling with another short birdie on the 11th. At the 14th, he converted a 15-foot birdie try and got to 12-under thanks to a long birdie putt at 16. Langer closed his bogey-free round with a pair of pars.
"Just happy to be hitting fairways and greens for the most part, giving myself opportunities. As I said, pretty happy with the ball striking and made the odd putt here and there, so it was a stressless 65 if you can call it that way," Langer stated. "Yesterday, I had to get it up and down a few times. Today was a little bit less stress, a little bit easier."
Cochran, the 2011 Senior British Open champion, opened with a birdie at the first from five feet out. After missing a birdie try at two, he didn't miss at three and four as the back-to-back birdies moved him to 5-under.
The five-time Champions Tour winner birdied seven and eight, both from about 10 feet out.
Around the turn, Cochran stuffed his second shot inside two feet at the 10th. He moved to 9-under with a 15-foot birdie putt at 12. However, he gave that shot back at the 16th, when he missed a short par putt.
"The round was pretty solid. With me, kind of where I am with my game, I felt like I needed a good round," Cochran admitted. "I haven't played very well, at least to my liking. Been very shaky with the putter and kind of finished the round off a little bit that way. But through the most part of the day I felt very comfortable and made a lot of nice putts and played very well."
NOTES: This is the eighth time Langer has owned the 36-hole lead in a major championship on the Champions Tour ... He went on to win four of the previous seven with his last win in that position coming last year at the Senior British Open ... Pate's 63 missed the course record by one stroke and Langer's two-round score was two off the tournament's 36-hole record.
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