HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Scott Parel grabbed a one-stroke lead in the Constellation Senior Players Championship, shooting a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round to reach 11 under.
The 53-year-old Parel made seven birdies after starting the day two shots off the lead. He is seeking his first PGA Tour Champions victory.
Parel remained in the lead when Jeff Maggert three-putted from about 15 feet to bogey the par-4 18th. That left Maggert (68) tied with Brandt Jobe (67) at 10 under in the fourth of five majors on the tour’s schedule.
Three-time champion Bernhard Langer (67), defending champion Scott McCarron (68), Kenny Perry (70) and Vijay Singh (67) were in a pack two strokes off the lead. Illinois golf coach Mike Small shot 71 and was three shots back.
Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., is the top Canadian at 5 under. Calgary’s Stephen Ames is even for the tournament.
Parel did not play in college at Georgia and worked in computers for 10 years before turning pro. He missed the cut in four of his five career PGA Tour starts. On the over-50 tour, he has 13 top-10 finishes in 52 starts.
Parel pulled ahead even though he was a bit off target with his driver. He finished with a birdie on 18.
"I think if the conditions stay the same, you’re going to have to shoot the same kind of scores that I’ve shot the last two days to have a chance to win," he said. "The course is in perfect shape. The greens are perfect, makeable speed and smooth. So guys are going to make a lot of birdies out here."
McCarron bogeyed three holes, including the 18th. In the Senior Players at Caves Valley near Baltimore last year, he overcame a six-shot deficit to beat Langer and Jobe by a stroke.
McCarron is facing surgery at the end of the season to repair a tendon running through his right ankle. It’s been bothering him for about a year and a half, though it hasn’t impacted his game.
He came into this event with seven top-10 finishes on the season and a victory last month at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin. McCarron then tied for 52nd at the U.S. Senior Open in Colorado Springs.
"I’m playing decent," McCarron said. "Just made a few too many mistakes today, especially the last hole. But I’m hitting a lot of good shots, and I’m putting pretty well. I like this golf course, so I’m certainly in the mix going into the weekend, which is where you’ve got to be. I mean, you can’t go out and win the tournament the first two days, but I’ve certainly put myself in a good position."
The 52-year-old Small has never won on the PGA Tour Champions. He is not a tour member and made the field because he performed well over three events where he received sponsors’ exemptions. But he remains near the top of the leaderboard even though he slipped back a bit.
"I’m happy," he said. "I had more hard putts today. Yesterday, I hit it in spots where you can make putts, and these greens are very difficult from that point of view. If you hit it in the correct spots, you can make putts here all day long. But if you just get a foot or two on the other side of that, they’re hard to read and they’re fast and you’re playing defensively."
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