'Boom-Boom' Assumes Top Spot in Charles Schwab Cup Championship


Fred Couples fired a 6-under 65 to supplant Peter Senior as the leader in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The $2.5 million event, the season ender on the Champions Tour, is taking place at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Couples' flawless round included four birdies on the front nine and two more on the back. The 54-year-old stands at 12-under 130, two strokes ahead of Senior. The 54-year-old Australian opened with a splendid 63 and followed that up with a 2-under 69 Friday.

Of TPC Harding Park, a municipal facility beside Lake Merced that opened in 1925, Couples said at greenside, "It's a short course that plays really long. It plays like where I grew up (Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle).

"I feel like I've been playing well," Couples added of his season, which, so far anyway, hasn't led him to victory on the over-50 circuit. With eight career titles on the Champions Tour, Couples hasn't visited the winner's circle since the Senior British Open last year at Turnberry in Scotland.

Four strokes behind the player known as "Boom-Boom" for his prodigious tee shots is Bart Bryant, who carded a 66, while five back is Germany's Bernhard Langer (68).

Six behind Couples are Russ Cochran (68), Mike Goodes (68) and California native Mark O'Meara (70).

David Frost began the second round only a shot behind Senior, but after starting with a 64 the South African dropped into solo eighth at 137 following a 73.

Sharing ninth at 138 are Jay Don Blake (69) and Duffy Waldorf (71), while tied for 11th at 139 are Jay Haas (69), Kenny Perry (71), Gene Sauers (71) and 2012 Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner, Tom Lehman, who had a 70.

Perry, who won his third title of the year at last week's AT&T Championship in San Antonio, entered the Charles Schwab Cup Championship with a 612-point lead over second-place Langer in the season-long points' race.

If Langer wins the tournament, Perry needs to finish fifth or better to win the Cup and earn the $1 million annuity that goes to the overall champion.

The winner of the 72-hole, 30-player Charles Schwab Cup Championship takes home $440,000.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/champions/leaderboard.html.