Boo Weekley carded his second consecutive round of 6-under-par 66 on Saturday and took a one-stroke lead over South African Ernie Els at the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club.
Weekley, 52, is seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour Champions after winning three times on the PGA Tour but not since 2013. He is at 12-under 132 after 36 holes, leading Els by one and by a three-stroke margin over Tom Pernice Jr. (66 on Saturday) and South Korea’s Charlie Wi (68).
Els also shot a 66 after opening with a 67. First-round leader Ben Crane carded a 1-under 71 and is tied at 8 under with six others: Northern Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiminez, New Zealand’s Steven Alker, Zach Johnson, Tommy Gainey and defending champion Stewart Cink, who has won the season’s first two majors.
Crane shot a 7-under round of 65 on Friday.
Weekley has produced a dozen birdies and no bogies through 36 holes. On Saturday, he birdied four of the first seven holes. He also was successful in scrambling 5-of-5 times and is 7 of 7 with one round remaining.
“I left a lot of putts short on this back side that could have went in,” Weekley said. “You know, really, really close to going in. Just a little, you know, another foot of speed or a little bit higher line or something like that. But overall, I’m happy where everything’s going right now.”
Els heated up on the back nine, recording four consecutive birdies from the 13th through the 16th holes. Included in that run were birdies on the par-3 14th and 16th holes.
Els drove the ball much better on Saturday, hitting 11 fairways and increasing his driving distance by nearly 19 yards.
“It’s a long story. It’s kind of ball position and setup, all the normal stuff that gets out of whack with me,” said Els. “So those are the most uncomfortable things to work on. So, today was a good day.”
What would it take for Weekley to win?
“I’d like another 66,” he said. “I’d like to roll my dice on it and see what happens. … You know, any time you can shoot 66 and just keep playing golf, that’s a good round no matter where you finish.”
Like Crane admitted on Friday, Els is really enjoying himself on the tour.
“You know, when I was younger I downplayed the Champions Tour,” Els said. “You know, I didn’t have a good time when I was in my late 40s on the regular tour. So to be out here, be able to compete, to play, to have almost a tournament a week at our age, come on, you know? It’s gravy. And to have the guys that I’ve competed against all my life and still trying to win a tournament is — there’s no other sport like this.”
