Two atop Allianz Championship


Bernhard Langer and Tom Pernice Jr. both carded 6-under 66s rise to the top of the Allianz Championship after one round. The 54-hole, $1.8 million Champions Tour event began Friday on the Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Fla.

Pernice carded five birdies, an eagle on the par-4 fifth hole - when he holed out from 128 yards, and a bogey. Langer, a member of golf's Hall of Fame, posted six birdies and the rest pars.

One stroke behind are Scott Simpson, Bart Bryant, Fred Funk, defending champion Corey Pavin, Roger Chapman and Rocco Mediate. Both Bryant and Mediate are making their Champions Tour debuts this week.

Langer posted his low score despite suffering from the flu. But beware the sick golfer. "It's no fun playing sick, but I played pretty strong coming home," he told reporters. "I could have been 6- or 7-under the last seven holes."

Pernice continued to give it a go on the regular PGA Tour after turning 50 in 2009, but decided to devote his full energy to the Champions Tour after losing full-exempt status on the flat-belly circuit. "I always thought I was going to play on the PGA Tour as long as I was competitive and had status," he said.

"Why wouldn't you want to play on the greatest tour against the world's best players as long as you can? But I'm committed to playing the Champions Tour this year. I guess I need to act my age."

Mediate said he was a bit nervous his first time out on the over-50 circuit, but settled in and knows he'll have to perform to experience success. "I know on the Champions Tour your have to earn your way here, you have to earn the respect of these guys and that's what I want to do," said Mediate, a six-time regular Tour winner who most famously is known for his gregariousness and epic 91-hole loss to Tiger Woods in the 2008 U.S. Open.

For all the scores of the Allianz Championship, visit http://www.pgatour.com/champions/tournaments/allianz-championship/leaderboard.html.