Parel, Tolles top PGA Tour Champions playoff opener

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This article was published 19/10/2019 (2537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RICHMOND, Va. – Scott Parel shot his second straight 6-under 66 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Tommy Tolles in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, the first of three tournaments in the PGA Tour Champions’ Charles Schwab Cup playoffs.

Parel rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 15th with birdies on the par-5 16th and 18th at The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course. He won twice last season on the 50-and-over tour.

“This week, I decided I wasn’t thinking about results at all and I’m just trying to shoot — actually what I’m trying to do is shoot in the 60s every day,” Parel said. “Then if I play better than that and it’s good enough to win, great, and if not, great. I don’t want to put so much pressure on myself to try to win. I’m just going to play the best I can.”

Tolles, the first-round leader, shot a 67. He also birdied 16 and 18 after dropping a stroke on 15.

“I really kept the momentum going for the front nine and then the back nine, I showed up,” Tolles said. “I really lost the speed of the greens. I had a very, very simple birdie putt on 10 and I left it 2 feet short. Then on almost every putt from then on out or whatever, I couldn’t get the speed right. I was missing a lot of them. I was either leaving them short or I was powering through the break. But as far as the way I struck the ball, I’m very pleased.”

He’s winless in three seasons on tour and entered the week 59th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, with the top 54 advancing to the Invesco QQQ Championship on Nov. 1-3 in Thousand Oaks, California.

Colin Montgomerie was a stroke back at 11 under after a 67.

Bernhard Langer (65), Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Retief Goosen (68) were 9 under.