Browne sets 36-hole mark at Gwinnett Championship
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Duluth, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Olin Browne fired a course record 8-under 64 in Saturday's second round and he will head into the final day with a 1-shot lead at the Greater Gwinnett Championship.
Browne, the 2011 U.S. Senior Open champion, also topped 2014 winner Miguel Angel Jimenez's 36-hole record of 135 by three shots. Browne finished two rounds at 12-under-par 132. Jimenez also shot a 65 to set the TPC Sugarloaf course record last year.
"The forecast isn't great for tomorrow so we had to take that into consideration, but you know it was just one shot at a time today just like it is every other day," Browne said. "I got on a roll on the back nine and had a nice back nine coming in."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bernhard Langer, a five-time winner on the Champions Tour in 2014, eagled the last hole to match Browne's 8-under 64 and overtake Jimenez's 36-hole mark as well. Langer is alone in second and one shot back at 11-under 133.
Rocco Mediate shot a 5-under 67 and he is alone in third at minus-9.
After play was suspended with just three players having finished their rounds on Friday, the first round concluded Saturday morning with Tommy Armour III in the lead after his 67. Armour (71) is tied for eighth at minus-6.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Browne, who shot a 4-under 68 in the first round, started off well and did not let up on the back nine. He rolled in three birdies over his first six holes at two, three and six.
After making the turn with five straight pars from No. 7, Browne started making his push toward the course and 36-hole record.
Browne finished with a flourish by making five birdies over his final seven holes, including a 5-footer for birdie at the last to claim those records over Jimenez.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Langer, a 23-time winner on the Champions Tour, has not had the same season as he had in 2014, when he notched 18 top-10s in 21 starts. However, the German started to go in the right direction on Saturday.
Following a 3-under 69 in the first round, Langer holed three birdies in four holes from No. 3. He later made the turn in style with a gain at the par-4 ninth.
Langer had just as much luck on the back side. He sandwiched a birdie at 13 in between six pars before finishing strong. A birdie at No. 17 left him three shots off of Browne's lead heading to the 18th.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Knowing he needed to make some sort of a move with Sunday's round in doubt due to a poor forecast, Langer hit his second shot at the par-5 last to within 30 feet and he rolled that in for an eagle, vaulting him into second place and one shot back.
"I kind of knew that teeing off on Friday because the forecast was so bad and the course was already drenched, so we knew this could be a two-round tournament," Langer said. "I tried to get off to a hot start and got off to a really bad start being 1-over after three or four, but since then I've played very nicely."
Mediate used a stretch of four straight birdies from No. 3 to pull into the lead at the time. Another gain on 10 was negated by a double-bogey on 11, but he got both of those shots back with gains on 13 and 15. Mediate closed with a trio of pars from 16.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NOTES: Due to the rain on Friday, lift, clean and place rules were in use on Saturday ... Browne only has the one victory on the Champions Tour ... Langer has two top-10 finishes in four events this season. He also missed the cut at last week's Masters ... Defending champion Jimenez started his week 69-70 and is tied for 10th at 5-under 139.