Jimenez, Cejka tied for lead in SAS Championship

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This article was published 16/10/2021 (1775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Miguel Angel Jimenez eagled the par-5 17th in a 4-under 68 for a share of the second-round lead Saturday with Alex Cejka in the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship.

“I hit a beautiful 7-wood there, like 3 1/2 meters or less,” Jimenez said about the eagle. “All day long been hitting quite well and I played decent really. … I think played very well all day. Four-under par with these conditions, I think I played very well.”

Cejka shot a 67 in the round delayed 90 minutes late in the afternoon because of rain to match Jimenez at 9-under 135 at Prestonwood Country Club.

Bernhard Langer (66) was a stroke back with Scott Dunlap (68) and first-round leader Scott Parel (71). The 64-year-old Langer, the tournament winner in 2012 and 2018, leads the Charles Schwab Cup points race.

“Played pretty decent all along,” Langer said. “Yesterday, I played brilliant and didn’t make anything. Today, I played almost as good and made a few putts and that was the difference.”

The 57-year-old Jimenez, from Spain, has 10 victories on the 50-and-over tour.

“I’ll do my best,” Jimenez said, “I’m hitting good, I’ll see on Sunday. The guys out there — Cejka’s playing really good, too, Langer’s playing well. Strong field.”

Cejka won the major Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship in May for his first senior titles. The 50-year-old Czech-born German won his lone PGA Tour title in Puerto Rico in 2015.

“I played pretty good,” Cejka said. “It was tough out there. It was a little bit windy, but I hit a lot of good shots. … Could have been one or two more better, but I take it where I am right now concerning what we had the last three holes with the rain delay. So I’m just happy where I am right now. I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Lee Janzen (70), Monday qualifier Thongchai Jaidee (71) and Harrison Frazar (69) were 7 under. Jim Furyk (69) and Padraig Harrington (67) topped the group at 6 under.

The top 72 players on the money list after the regular-season finale will advance to the playoffs. A wild-card playoff spot also is available for a player outside the top 72 who finishes in the top 10 this week.

Defending champion Ernie Els was even par after a 73.