Sigel & Nelson top leaderboard

Jim Dent is not giving in to his age or to the younger players on the Champions Tour.

"We get tired of getting beat," the 64-year-old Dent said after he fired a 65 in the second round of the Constellation Energy Classic on Saturday.

The Champions Tour is generally dominated by players in their early 50s. Dent, however is 6 under for the tournament -- one shot behind co-leaders Jay Sigel and Larry Nelson heading into Sunday's final round.

Dent will be looking for his first Champions Tour victory since 1998. If he gets it, he would become the oldest player ever to win on the Champions Tour. Mike Fetchick was 63 when he won at Hilton Head in 1985.

Dent's seven-birdie, no-bogey round of 65 came in a steady rain that left the course soaking wet.

"That's a remarkable score under the conditions," said Nelson, who matched 70s with Sigel. "A 65 would have been impressive if anybody had shot it, but to do it at his age ..."

Dent had the lowest round of the day. He is tied for third with Des Smyth in a tight competition that has 19 players within five shots of the lead. Ed Fiori is alone in fifth at 5 under, with Tom Jenkins, John Bland and Doug Tewell another shot back.

Bruce Fleisher heads a group of four players at 3 under. Sigel shared the first-round lead with Nelson and Smyth after shooting an opening 67 over the 7,060-yard, par-72 course. He wasn't unhappy with his up-and-down, five-birdie, three-bogey round that was interrupted by a rain delay of 1 hour, 19 minutes.

"It was a tough day to play," said Sigel, seeking his second win of the season after earning the eighth victory of his Champions Tour career in May at the Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am. "There's a bunch of people bunched. Anything can happen if somebody gets cooking with the putter."

Nelson, three times a runner-up but still looking for his first win this year, had a more consistent round than Sigel. After making birdies on the first and fourth holes, he reeled off 12 consecutive pars before taking a bogey on No. 17 that dropped him out of the lead.

He hit a lob wedge to within 12 feet on the 18th and sank the birdie putt to move back into a tie with Sigel.

"It was just kind of a day to survive," he said.

Dent did more than that, nearly shooting his age and recording his lowest score in relation to par this season. He missed the course record by one stroke. Finishing before the heaviest rains that halted play, Dent hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation, needed just 28 putts, and averaged 281 yards off the tee.

Dent got to 7 under for the day with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 16 before narrowly missing birdie putts on each of his final two holes. He would've scored his age had he made either one. Only Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Miller Barber have accomplished that feat on the Champions Tour in 2003.

"I didn't even think about it," he said.

Dent hasn't had a top-10 finish since tying for third at the ACE Group Classic in February 2002. His best finish this season is a tie for 12th, and he hasn't even cracked the top 50 in his last three tournaments.

He says he isn't in a slump.

"The young guys are just shooting better scores," said Dent, who has been working on his chipping and putting in an effort to return to the form that produced 12 victories from 1989-98. "You've just got to work a little harder and watch what the young guys do and try to do that."

Dent began the day six strokes off the pace following an opening-round 73. He was derailed by a triple-bogey 8 on the par-5 fifth, but Dent birdied No. 5 in what he called the key to his round. All seven of his birdies came on putts of 15 feet or less, including a 3-footer on the par-3 eighth following a 3-iron that he called his best shot of the day.

Dent said nothing leading up to this weekend gave him any indication he would shoot his best round of the season. He did, however, make one change.

"I got a new set of clubs Friday morning," he said. "I put them in and hit a lot of good shots. Already, they've paid for themselves."

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page