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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Taking advantage of perfect conditions and a relaxed pairing with close friend Fred Couples, Jay Haas matched the Champions Tour record with a 10-under 60 to open a five-stroke lead Friday in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Haas, 58, made a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th after hitting his second shot into a greenside bunker and leaving his eagle blast short.
Haas, a former Wake Forest golfer, became the eighth player in the history of the 50-and-over tour to shoot 60, and the first since Nick Price last year in the Toshiba Classic.
Haas also broke the course record on Desert Mountain’s Cochise layout, closing with a 7-under 28 on the back nine to finish a stroke off the tour’s nine-hole record.
Tom Lehman was second in the season-ending event after a 63, moving into position to win the Charles Schwab Cup points race.
Elsewhere
World Golf Championships: Louis Oosthuizen again took advantage of the par 5s at Mission Hills, shooting a 9-under 63 in the HSBC Champions In Shenzhen, China, to build a five-shot lead and break a World Golf Championships record that previously belonged to Tiger Woods.
Along with opening a five-shot lead over Ernie Els – his South African mentor – Oosthuizen reached 16-under 128. That’s the lowest score to par through 36 holes in any World Golf Championships event since they began in 1999.
Woods had a 15-under 125 at Firestone in 2000, and he was at 15-under 127 at The Grove outside London in 2006 at the American Express Championship.
Els had a 63 that vaulted him from 19th place into a tie for second with Adam Scott of Australia, who had a 68.
LPGA: Jiyai Shin of South Korea and Ayako Uehara of Japan both shot 4-under 68 to lead the Mizuno Classic after the first round in Shima, Japan.
Angela Stanford of the United States and defending champion Momoko Ueda of Japan were tied for third at 3-under in a group of six.
