Commerce Bank Championship: Second-Round Notebook
By Phil Stambaugh, PGA TOUR Staff
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- Loren Roberts shoots for his first victory of the 2008 season Sunday and his eighth overall title on the Champions Tour. Thus far this year, Roberts has finished second three times, including a playoff loss to Denis Watson at the AT&T Champions Classic and a runner-up effort to Jeff Sluman last week at the Bank of America Championship near Boston.
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• Loren Roberts will play in the final grouping Sunday for the third time this year and coincidentally will be playing with his partner at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, Scott Simpson. Roberts and Simpson finished tied for 11th earlier this year in the better-ball team event. Roberts was in the final grouping at the FedEx Kinko's Classic (fifth) and last week at the Bank of America Championship (second).
• Loren Roberts is four for six on the Champions Tour when leading/co-leading going into the final round. His victories came in the 2007 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, the 2006 Senior British Open, the 2006 ACE Group Classic and the 2006 Turtle Bay Championship.
• Loren Roberts' score of 9-under 135 equals the highest 36-hole total to lead since the event was first played at Eisenhower Park in 2003. Tom Jenkins was at 9-under 135 after 36 holes in 2006. Roberts is a cumulative 6 under on the final six holes on the Red Course through two days of play.
• The winner of the Commerce Bank Championship will receive 240 Charles Schwab Cup points in the season-long race. Jay Haas is the current leader with 1,671 points, 258 points ahead of Bernhard Langer. Scott Hoch is third with 1,026 points. Loren Roberts, the 2007 Schwab Cup winner, is currently fourth with 763 points and can make up significant ground with a win tomorrow. Roberts is bidding to become the first player ever to win back-to-back Schwab Cups. At the end of the official season, the player earning the most points will receive a $1 million payout from Charles Schwab and the Schwab Cup. Points are awarded on a per-thousand basis for top-10 finishes during the year.
• Loren Roberts is also bidding to become only the third player (fourth time) to win this event going wire-to-wire. Bruce Fleisher won wire-to-wire in both 1999 and 2000 and Ron Streck won wire-to-wire at Eisenhower Park in 2005.
• Over the last 20 years, players leading/co-leading after Saturday have gone on to win the Commerce Bank Championship 12 times and six of the last nine years. Thus far in 2008 on the Champions Tour, only five of 15 36/54-hole leaders/co-leaders have won.
• Lonnie Nielsen (tied for fourth) is within striking distance of successfully defending his Commerce Bank Championship title. Successful title defenses are common at this event. George Archer claimed this tournament three straight times (1990, 1991, 1992), while Lee Trevino won in both 1994 and 1995. Bruce Fleisher claimed back-to-back crowns in 1999 and 2000 while Jim Thorpe won consecutive times in 2003 and 2004.
• Fulton Allem, Gene Jones and Mike Goodes are all tied for fourth through two rounds and three strokes off the lead. All three professionals still have an outside opportunity to become the seventh first-time winner in Commerce Bank Championship history and the fourth consecutive. Only the AT&T Champions Classic has produced seven first-time winners in their history. No tournament has ever had four straight first-time champions.
• Mark Johnson and Tom Kite had the low rounds of the day, 6-under 65s and as a result, made the two biggest moves up the leaderboard. Johnson's round vaulted him up 45 spots into a a tie for 10th. Kite's score moved him up 38 places into a tie for 22nd.
• After playing to a stroke average of 70.705 Friday, the Red Course at Eisenhower Park yielded a field scoring average of 70.141 Saturday. There were 37 rounds in the 60s Saturday compared to 29 Friday. A total of 47 players broke par Saturday compared to 40 Friday. A total of 20 players are within four strokes of the lead after 36 holes.
• Through 36 holes, the par-4 first hole has played as the most difficult (4.218), giving up just 17 birdies. The par-5 third hole has played as the easiest (4.474), yielding eight eagles and 67 birdies through two rounds.
• Lonnie Nielsen had the longest measured drive of the day, belting his tee shot 324 yards at No. 14 Saturday. ... Dave Eichelberger hit all 14 fairways Saturday. ... David Eger, Scott Simpson, Wayne Levi and Jeff Sluman all hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. ... Greg Hickman, Mark Johnson and Tom Wargo only had 25 putts in their rounds Saturday.
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