FedEx Kinko's Classic: Second-Round Notebook

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LAKEWAY, Texas -- Nick Price enjoys a two-stroke lead after 36 holes of the FedEx Kinko's Classic, the first time he's been a leader after play on Saturday on the Champions Tour.

A front-nine 40 derailed Mark O'Meara?s hopes Saturday at the Hills. (Feldman/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Nick Price 132 -12 T2. Scott Simpson 134 -10 T2. Loren Roberts 134 -10 T4. Tim Simpson 137 -7 T4. Denis Watson 137 -7 T6. Bob Gilder 138 -6 T6. Fred Funk 138 -6 T6. Scott Hoch 138 -6 T9. Mark Wiebe 140 -4 T9. Jim Thorpe 140 -4 T9. John Cook 140 -4 T9. D.A. Weibring 140 -4

• Price's 36-hole total of 12--under-par 132 is a FedEx Kinko's Classic tournament record, one stroke lower than Scott Hoch's total for two rounds last year. This is also Price's career best on the Champions Tour for two rounds.

• Nick Price goes for his fifth career victory in the state of Texas Sunday and will try to capture his first career title on the Champions Tour in his 23rd start on the circuit. Of his 18 PGA TOUR victories, Price captured the 1991 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic in Dallas, the 1992 H.E.B. Texas Open in San Antonio, and both the 1994 Southwestern Bell Colonial and 2002 MasterCard Colonial in Fort Worth.

• Nick Price will also try to become the second consecutive player to make the FedEx Kinko's Classic his first win on the Champions Tour. Scott Hoch's victory in Austin last year was his first since the 2003 Ford Championship at Doral, the last of 11 PGA TOUR titles.

• Sunday's winner will earn 240 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. Bernhard Langer (911) leads Scott Hoch (703) by 208 points and Jay Haas (692) is in third place. Nick Price (339), this week's 36-hole leader, is currently in 12th place and can jump into the top five in the Schwab Cup race with a victory Sunday. At the end of the official season at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, Calif., the player earning the most Schwab Cup points will earn a $1 million payout.

• Something's gotta give Sunday. Three of the last four winners on the Champions Tour this year have come from the final grouping. However, in the previous five years at the FedEx Kinko's Classic, the winner has come from the last grouping on Sunday in every odd year since 2003, but has not come from the last group in either 2004 or 2006. Price last played in the final grouping at this year's ACE Group Classic and finished fifth near Naples, Fla.

• Three of the last four Champions Tour events, and four tournaments overall in 2008, have been won by the 36-hole leader/co-leader. Nick Price is also trying to become the third wire-to-wire champion in the last four events. Mark Wiebe went wire-to-wire at the Cap Cana Championship and the team of Andy North/Tom Watson led start to finish at last week's Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.

• Sunday's final grouping of Nick Price (-12), Loren Roberts (-10) and Scott Simpson (-10) have collectively won 33 PGA TOUR titles and four major championships (Price-1992 PGA Championship, 1994 British Open, PGA Champinship, Simpson-1987 U.S. Open). Simpson also has claimed one Champions Tour victory (2006 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach) while Roberts has seven career wins on the Champions Tour, including three major titles (2005 JELD-WEN Tradition, 2006 Senior British Open, 2007 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship).

• After making consecutive eagles in Friday's opening round, Denis Watson eagled the par-5 10th hole Saturday. He now has three eagles in this year's FedEx Kinko's Classic. Just eight players in Champions Tour history have ever made four eagles in a tournament. Brad Bryant was the last to do so at the 2007 Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach.

• Thailand's Boonchu Ruangkit carded a 4-under 68 in the morning and moved up 30 spots into a tie for 13th. Should Ruangkit finish among the top 10 in the event, he will earn a spot into the Champions Tour's next event, the Regions Charity Classic in Birmingham, Ala.

• With a crosswind blowing from a slightly different direction Saturday, the Hills Country Club course played almost two and a half strokes harder than Friday (72.143 on Friday vs. 73.566 on Saturday). After two rounds last year, the cumulative scoring average was 73.295 compared to 72.850 this year.

• After playing as the second most-difficult hole Friday (3.208), the par-3 third hole was the hardest Saturday (3.579). The par-5 eighth hole again played as the easiest (4.649 on Friday vs. 4.632 on Saturday). Through two rounds, the eighth hole has yielded six eagles and 65 birdies.

• Fulton Allem was disqualified from the competition for leaving the designated scoring area without signing his scorecard. Allem finished 36 holes at 3-under 141.