Browne Soars in Greater Gwinnett Championship


Olin Browne was red-hot on Saturday at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga. The 55-year-old from Washington, D.C., fired a tournament-record 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead in the Greater Gwinnett Championship.

After many of the first rounds were rained out Friday, the 54-hole, $1.8 million Champions Tour event got back on track Saturday thanks to better weather.

Browne, whose only victory on the over-50 circuit came at the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, polished off a 68 Saturday morning. In the afternoon he carded eight birdies to reach 12-under 132, a stroke ahead of Bernhard Langer, who also fired a 64.

Browne and Langer played alongside each other. The 57-year-old Langer, a 23-time winner on the Champions Tour, posted four birdies on the front nine and added two more on the back. The World Golf Hall of Fame member finished his 64 with an eagle on the par-5 18th.

Browne was impressed with the reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion. "That's what you expect out of him," Browne said of the German. "It's no accident. He didn't win two Masters by accident.

"He's our marquee guy out here and he shows up every single week and there's one thing that he cares about doing and that's winning the tournament."

Trailing by three is Rocco Mediate (67), while five behind are Sweden's Jeserp Parnevik (69), Canada's Stephen Ames (67) and Americans Mark O'Meara (69) and Tom Pernice Jr. (68).

Bad weather is expected to return Sunday and may affect the final round. The forecast calls for rain and possible thunderstorms.

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