THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Michael Allen birdied the final two holes for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead Saturday after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational.
The 56-year-old Allen had a 10-under 134 total at The Woodlands Country Club. He has seven victories on the 50-and-over tour, winning twice last season.
“If you haven’t won for a while, it just seems like you’re never going to do it again,” Allen said. “To win again tomorrow would be really important to me. I love playing here. I think they’ve had a lot of great champions. I would love to be a part of it.”
Joe Durant was second after a 68. He had a double bogey in the par-4 17th and rebounded with a birdie on the par-4 18th. Last week, he teamed with Billy Andrade to win the Legends of Golf in Missouri for his first Champions Tour title.
Durant wanted to quickly put the double bogey behind him.
“I just blanked out for a minute on 17,” Durant said. “As a result, I hit it in the water and made double. Came back with a nice birdie on 18. I hit a bad shot on 17, but so what? You’re going to hit bad shots from time to time.”
Scott Dunlap, Woody Austin and Tom Lehman were 8 under. Dunlap had a 65, the best round of the day. Austin and Lehman shot 66.
“I didn’t hit the ball super great,” Lehman said. “In fact, I hit the ball much better yesterday. I seemed to always manage to get it in the right places and shot a good score.”
Defending champion Bernhard Langer was 7 under after a 66. Marco Dawson, tied for the first-round lead with Allen after a 66, had a 72 to drop into a tie for 10th at 6 under.
Canada’s Stephen Ames slipped slightly Saturday after a 71. He’s now tied for 18th at 4-under.