SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Michael Allen made a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole Friday to take a two-stroke lead over playing partner Bernhard Langer in the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Warned for slow play around the turn, Allen finished with a 6-under 64 for an 11-under 129 total on Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course. The 56-year-old Scottsdale resident played the final six holes in 5 under with the eagle and three birdies.
Langer was second after a 68, leaving the 58-year-old German star in position to win the season points title and a $1 million annuity.
Langer began the week third in the Charles Schwab Cup points race, 66 points behind Colin Montgomerie and 27 behind Jeff Maggert, in a bid to win the title for the second straight year and record third time overall. With players receiving a point for every $500 earned in the $2.5 million tournament, Langer was $33,000 behind Montgomerie and $13,500 behind Maggert.
Montgomerie had a 68 and was tied for 18th in the 30-man field at 2 under. Maggert was tied for 22nd at 1 under after a 67. The runner-up in the points competition will receive a $500,000 annuity, and the third-place finisher will get a $300,000 annuity.
Kenny Perry (66) and Billy Andrade (67) were tied for third at 8 under, and Jeff Sluman (64) and Olin Browne (67) were another stroke back.
Allen chipped in for birdie on the par-3 13th, two-putted for birdie on the par-5 15th and made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. He won the last of his seven victories on the 50-and-over tour in October 2014.
Langer birdied three of the first four holes, three-putted for bogey on the par-3 seventh and birdied the ninth. The two-time Masters champion dropped another stroke after failing to get up-and-down from the greenside rough on the par-4 12th, took another bogey when he missed an 8-foot par on 17, and got up-and-down for birdie on 18.
Langer successfully defended his Senior Players title in June in Massachusetts for his fifth senior major title and won last month in San Antonio for his 25th victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Allen and Langer use long putters with anchored strokes, a method that will be illegal next year.
Canada’s Stephen Ames has a share of 8th at 5 under.