Blake & Chapman Set Pace in Legends of Golf


Utah's Jay Don Blake and his partner from England, Roger Chapman, carded an 11-under 61 Saturday to grab a one-shot lead in the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf. The 54-hole Champions Tour event started Friday at the Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga.

The duo, which began play on the 10th tee, opened with four birdies on their front nine to make the turn in 4-under 32, then tacked on seven birdies on their home half for a 7-under 29 in the team event.

The pair sit at 17-under 127, one stroke ahead of the pairings of Scott Hoch/Jim Gallagher Jr. (61), Craig Stadler/Kirk Triplett (64), Andy North/Tom Watson (64), Bernhard Langer/Tom Lehman (65), and first-round leaders, Brad Faxon and Jeff Sluman, who combined for a 66 Saturday.

Chapman, whose only two wins in the States are Champions Tour majors that came last year in the Senior PGA Championship and U.S. Senior Open, tipped his cap to his partner for their solid outing. "Jay Don sort of got us going with four birdies on the front nine and then I was feeling like a spare part at the time," Chapman told reporters.

Chapman then contributed in a big way with six straight birdies at the beginning of their back nine. "We turned the back side, which is the front nine for us, and that's when I just kind of wanted to get in the golf cart and watch Roger," said Blake.

Tied for seventh at 15-under 129 are David Eger/Mark McNulty (63), Mark O'Meara/Esteban Toledo (63), Michael Allen/David Frost (62) and Mark Calcavecchia/Peter Senior (64).

One of the pre-tournament favorites, Fred Couples and Jay Haas, shot a 64 to take a share of 11th at 14-under 130 with Peter Jacobsen/D.A. Weibring (64), Tom Pernice Jr./Bob Tway (63), Steve Elkington/Rocco Mediate (65), Larry Mize/Hal Sutton (65) and Bill Glasson/Steve Pate (65).

In the 36-hole Raphael division, which is reserved for players 50 to 69 years of age, Ian Baker-Finch and Bart Bryant won after beating Keith Fergus and Blaine McCallister on the third sudden-death playoff hole. Both teams finished at 14-under 130.

For complete scoring, visit http://www.pgatour.com/champions/leaderboard.html.