Jerry Pate ahead into the weekend

The ball sprayed wildly off Jerry Pate's 4-iron, a fat slice as wicked and as dreadful-looking as any an amateur can hit. Skittering barely 80 yards, it was the kind of shot that can unnerve even an accomplished pro and undo an excellent round.

"That was the worst golf shot I've ever hit as a professional, bar none, other than whiffing the ball," Pate said. "It was ugly."

Rather that ruining his second round at the Senior PGA Championship on Friday, it launched Pate into probably his best competitive round since the early 1980s -- a 4-under 68 that gave him a two-day total of 6-under 138 and one-shot lead.

Pate shook off his awful shot and the bogey it created on the par-5 No. 18 at Laurel Valley Golf Club to break from a crowded pack on a day when a dozen shared or owned the lead at some point.

"It's been 20 years," the 51-year-old Pate said, referring to the last time he was in contention in a PGA Tour or Champions Tour tournament. "That's a long time."

Pate followed up a 2-under 70 Thursday to lead R.W. Eaks (70) by one shot and Mark McNulty (66) and Mike Reid (70) by two shots. Hajime Meshiai, a 12-time Japanese Tour winner who has never been in contention in an American tournament, had a second-round 71 and is joined by Dave Barr (72) and Tom McKnight (72) at three off the lead.

Pate was an eight-time Tour winner, but stopped playing regularly in 1982 because of a left shoulder injury. He worked as a color analyst on golf telecasts, started a golf course design business and even went back to Alabama to finish his degree, joining his daughter in the 2001 graduation ceremony.

He started playing again after becoming eligible for the Champions Tour, though another left shoulder operation -- his fourth -- temporarily delayed his return. He had seven Top 10 finishes in 27 tournaments and twice finished second in 2004, and was in contention in two tournaments this year, but still hasn't won since the 1982 Players Championship.

Perhaps being away for so long made him realize that even a shot as bad as the one on No. 18 -- he began his round on No. 10 -- can easily be overcome.

Pushed by playing partners Tom Purtzer (5-under 67) and Ben Crenshaw (2-under 70), Pate had consecutive birdies on No. 6, 7 and 8 to finish his round with a lead-taking flourish.

"It was getting comical," he said. "We were looking for some more holes to play."

He'll get plenty of those Saturday and Sunday, when he'll try to hold off the 11 golfers who are within five shots of the lead, including first-round leader Graham Marsh, who had a second-round 74 for a 142 total. The most notable name missing from that group is four-time winner Hale Irwin, who was a shot off the lead Thursday before finishing with a 3-over 75, leaving him six shots back.

Irwin, the defending champion who started on No. 10, was around the lead all day until getting two bogeys and a double bogey within a five-hole span from Nos. 4-8.

McNulty, a three-time Champions Tour winner last year, rebounded from an opening-round 74 with a 6-under 66, the low round of the day. He's been in the Top 10 in six of nine tournaments this year but hasn't won.

"If I can just keep knocking on the door, maybe it will fall down for me," McNulty said.

Eaks, a former Northern Colorado basketball player, shook off three consecutive bogeys early in the day for his 2 under, a round he doesn't know if he could have shot a few years ago.

"You get upset, especially in the majors, when you know you've got some tough pin placements and the grass is deep and the greens are a little faster," he said. "But I hung in there and I'm pretty proud of this round."

Still, the day's biggest cheers were reserved for 75-year-old Arnold Palmer, a native western Pennsylvania. His otherwise forgettable 14-over 86 followed an 82, but he thrilled the crowd with a long birdie putt on No. 17 -- only his second birdie in two days.

"What can you say after you shoot the kind of scores I shot?" Palmer said.

On this day, only thank you to the fans who have supported him since his amateur days as a teenager, when he honed and polished what became one of golf's greatest games at nearby Latrobe Country Club.

"It's another of those emotional situations for me," he said.

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