Paul Broadhurst has a chance Sunday to become the first back-to-back winner this season on the PGA Tour Champions and ruin Stephen Ames’ 60th birthday party at the same time.
The Englishman takes a one-shot lead over Ames, the defending champion and two-time winner of the event, into the final round of the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth.
“This is what we play for,” Broadhurst said. “I don’t enjoy finishing 30th every week. No one does. You want to get up there in contention and test yourself. It will be a test again tomorrow.”
Broadhurst shot a 5-under 67 in the second round Saturday and took the outright lead at 10-under 134 when he birdied the final hole. He will begin the final round with a one-shot advantage over defending champion Stephen Ames, who matched the competitive course record with a 64 on his final day as a 59-year-old, and two strokes ahead of Steven Alker, the No. 1-ranked player on the circuit, who shot 71.
“Tomorrow’s golf,” Ames said. “It’s another day of golf. We’ll see what happens. Nice to be in this position again obviously.”
Tied for fourth at 7-under 137 are Shane Bertsch, John Senden, K.J. Choi, Lee Janzen and first-round co-leader Doug Barron. Tied for ninth at 6 under are Kevin Sutherland, Steve Allan and Y.E. Yang.
The low Georgian is Savannah’s Gene Sauers, tied for 12th at 5 under. Tournament host Stewart Cink shot 70 on Saturday and is tied for 23rd at 3-under 141.
Broadhurst won last week’s rain-shortened Invited Celebrity Classic in Dallas by focusing on one shot at a time, a strategy he’s following again this week, but that he admits is easier said than done.
“All I’m trying to do is stay in the moment, not get ahead of myself,” Broadhurst said. “It seems to be working. We’ll see tomorrow. I’ve just to try and do the same thing if I can.”
Broadhurst had several opportunities to let his mind wander Saturday but was able to keep focused when it mattered. He shot 32 on the front nine and added another birdie at No. 10 before a bogey at No. 11 slowed him. Broadhurst was able to navigate the swirling afternoon winds and finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole for the second consecutive round.
“I didn’t let it affect me on 11 where I three-putted from 10-12 feet,” he said. “That’s the sort of thing I haven’t been doing, been dwelling on it. Been working on that, not thinking I need to birdie 18 six holes later.”
Ames’ mojo may actually have started with his closing hole Friday when he holed out on No. 9 – which has given up only 11 birdies through two rounds – for an eagle. That turned the momentum in his favor and Ames nearly holed out from the fairway on his opening hole Saturday. He wound up with four birdies on each side and shot into contention.
“I was completely out of the picture yesterday,” Ames said. “A good day, started off nicely, and I continued rolling it and hit some good putts, hit some good shots, and the number added up to 64. That’s golf.”
A huge difference came on the par-3s on the back nine. He made double-bogey on both yesterday, but had a par and birdie on those today – a swing of five shots.
Ames had a crack at the course record on the gettable par-5 but pulled his drive and ended up on the top level of the hole. He didn’t want to gamble with an over-the-water shot to a front hole location that’s probably the toughest available and opted to layup. He two-putted and settled for par.
“There’s just no room for error,” Ames said. “It’s a tough pin to go at from that far back, so it was always going to be a layup for me. … I was trying to make that putt on the last hole (for the course record). My wife would have been impressed if I did, that’s for sure.”
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