Old rivals tied for lead at 3M Championship

They were rivals in a United States/South Africa junior match play competition back in 1977 and playing partners at the PGA Championship at Winged Foot 20 years after that. Now both in their early 50s, Mark Calcavecchia and David Frost are at it again.

Paired together for a second consecutive day after each shot 8 under Friday in the 3M Championship, the two matched scores once more Saturday at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. Each carded a 6-under-par 66 to get to 14 under for the tournament.

They have a two-shot lead heading into Sunday's final round over John Cook, David Peoples and former club pro Kirk Hanefeld.

Saturday was another banner scoring day, with 47 players in the 78-man field finishing with subpar rounds.

"I fully expect Frostie to shoot [another] good score and whoever we're playing with to shoot a good score," Calcavecchia said, noting the likelihood of a third day in a row of squishy soft greens. "So that means if I have any designs on winning, I have to shoot one better."

Calcavecchia, making only his fifth Champions Tour start this week since turning 50 in June, got to as low as 16 under Saturday after a birdie at the par-4 16th. But bogeys on the final two holes left him without the solo lead.

"I'm glad there's no more holes left; I probably would have bogeyed the next one, too," Calcavecchia grumbled. "Some days you leave the course happy, some days you don't. I'll regroup for [Sunday]. I'm playing well."

Through 36 holes, Frost is one of four players in the field without a bogey. He's been on target all weekend, and Saturday was no different with all six of his birdie putts coming from inside 10 feet.

"Here, you're going to get a lot of opportunities to hit the ball 10, 15 feet from the hole," Frost said. "If you can just roll that putter and have a good feel for the greens -- nice, soft hands -- that's what normally is going to get the job done."

Among the day's biggest surprises was the 8-under card turned in by Hanefeld, the best score of the second round.

Partially exempt on the Champions Tour this season after his sixth-place finish at last year's Q School -- one spot out of fully exempt status -- Hanefeld has only two top-10 finishes in 52 events since he joined the tour in 2006. He placed 68th in the 3M Championship that year, his only other appearance in this tournament.

Saturday, Hanefeld hit every green and every fairway in regulation to put himself into contention heading into final round. Not bad for a guy whose career highlight is winning the Senior PGA Professional national championship.

"From the very beginning, I've felt reasonably comfortable," Hanefeld said of his limited Champions Tour experience. "I've been working my whole life; this is still a little new. I've never won before, so I would assume it probably is a lot different than what I've experienced. All I can continue to do is the same thing."

He said at one point or another he has played with just about everyone on the Champions Tour and that any intimidation factor is gone. That much is clear, given his solid round Saturday came while playing with a pair of former Ryder Cup participants: defending 3M Championship winner Bernhard Langer and Fred Funk.

Langer, coming off back-to-back major championships, started well Saturday before consecutive bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10 derailed his round. He finished with a 3-under 69, leaving him 7 under for the tournament.

Langer proclaimed himself out of the running to become the first repeat 3M champion in the event's 18-year history.

"Too far back now," he said of his seven-stroke deficit. "At best, you have to be at 10 under to have a chance."

"I'm not thinking about any number right now," said Calcavecchia, who predicted Friday it would take 20 under to win. "I'm just going to forget this finish and come out here [Sunday] making birdies right off the bat."