Australian Greg Chalmers held the lead for the second straight day as he seeks his first victory on PGA Tour Champions at the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Ariz.
Chalmers, who followed his opening-round 64 on Friday with a 4-under-par 67 on Saturday at La Paloma Country Club, is at 11-under 131. He carded birdies at Nos. 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10, and bogeys at Nos. 7 and 16 with a rather quiet back nine.
“Honestly, aside from the bogey on 16 today, there was really a lot of good stuff, there was some chances,” Chalmers said. “Made a couple nice putts and it looked pretty solid most of the day.”
Stewart Cink moved up three spots to second with a 65 on Saturday to be one stroke back at 10 under. He blistered the front nine at 5-under 31 with birdies at Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6 and 9. The hot streak continued with birdies at Nos. 10, 11 and 14 to get to 8 under for the day, but Cink slumped with bogeys at the par-4 Nos. 15 and 18.
“Well, it was a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde out there,” Cink said. “Golf felt really easy for the first, I don’t know, 11, 12, 13 holes. Then it has its way of reminding you that it’s not easy. … I didn’t make a lot of the same mistakes, I just made a lot of different kinds of mistakes. I missed a short putt, I hit a ball unplayable, misjudged the wind. Next thing you know, you’ve got a couple bogeys on your card.”
Chalmers, 51, is making his 23rd start on this tour, with his best results being two third-place finishes. This is the second time he’s playing in the last group in the final round. He won once in 485 PGA Tour starts, capturing the 2016 Barracuda Championship.
He was asked after his round if he prefers to be the leader or the chaser going into the final 18 holes.
“Well, I honestly don’t know, I haven’t done enough of it, right?” Chalmers told reporters. “We’ll find out tomorrow. I’d love to be one of those players that can lead and just run away with it, but we’ll find out tomorrow and see how it goes. There’s a long way to go.”
Cink, 51, is making his 18th start on the PGA Tour Champions and has won once, at the 2024 Ally Challenge. He’s an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour and has The Open Championship in 2009 to his credit.
Alex Cejka (63 on Saturday) of Germany and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els (67) of South Africa are two strokes behind Chalmers at 9 under.
Defending champion Joe Durant (68) is tied for 17th at 4 under. Tournament host Jerry Kelly (shoulder injury) withdrew before the second round.
–Field Level Media
