CONOVER, N.C. — Fred Funk took a one-stroke lead over Larry Mize in the Greater Hickory Classic on Saturday, shooting his second straight bogey-free 6-under 66.

The 56-year-old Funk has gone 42 holes without a bogey since the 13th hole Sunday in the final round of the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. He birdied the final two holes on Rock Barn Golf and Spa's Jones Course.

Funk won at The Woodlands in Texas in May for his seventh Champions Tour title.

Mize had a 67.

Defending champion Mark Wiebe, Chip Beck and Duffy Waldorf were four strokes back at 8 under. Beck and Waldorf shot 67, and Wiebe had a 69. First-round leader Dan Forsman, struggling with back problems, was 7 under after a 72.

CARY, N.C. — Bernhard Langer rallied to win the SAS Championship on Sunday to take the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup points race, shooting a 9-under 63 to beat Jay Don Blake by two strokes.

Four shots back entering the round, Langer birdied the final two holes to finish at 13-under 203 at Prestonwood Country Club. The German star has two victories this year and 16 overall on the 50-and-over tour.

Blake closed with a 68. He needed a birdie on the par-4 18th to force a playoff, but hit a tree with his drive and bogeyed the hole. Mark Wiebe also shot 68 to finish third at 10 under.

Langer took a 69-point lead over Tom Lehman in the points race for a $1 million annuity. Lehman skipped the tournament. The bogey-free 63 was the best final round by a winner in the history of the tournament.

The start of play was delayed 90 minutes because of rain.

CARY, N.C. — Steve Pate and Fred Funk shot 3-under 69 on Saturday to share the second-round lead at 8 under in the Champions Tour's SAS Championship.

Funk, the Insperity Championship winner in May for his seventh victory on the 50-and-over tour, birdied four of the last seven holes. He's eighth in the Schwab Cup standings, 1,130 points behind leader Tom Lehman.

"Well, it wasn't a very easy round, the first part," Funk said. "I was really struggling with my whole game and managed to shoot 1 over on the front.

"I kept working on my swing, trying to figure something out. And I really never could figure anything out, and I tried a couple different swing keys."

After a poor approach shot on 13, Funk said, he changed shot thoughts again.

"And all of a sudden, I started hitting it really close and hitting it really solid," he said. "I hit it really good on — hit some irons really good."

Pate is winless on the Champions Tour after winning six times on the PGA Tour. After an admittedly "ugly" second round, Pate said he felt better about Saturday's 69 than Friday's 67.

"(Friday ...

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CARY, N.C. — Russ Cochran topped the SAS Championship leaderboard Friday in his return from a back injury, hitting all hit all 18 greens in regulation and shooting a 6-under 66.

Cochran, the 2010 tournament winner, is making his first start since the U.S. Senior Open in July.

"I came here hoping to finish the tournament really," Cochran said. "But I fell into a great mode and played a good, solid round. Maybe I need more time off, I don't know.

"Of course, when you're playing well, you feel like you could do it all the time," Cochran said. "But I've got to give myself a lot of room and be very, very patient and realize that I haven't been in the heat in a long time. I haven't played much less been in the heat. I'll be pretty calm (Saturday), I think."

Steve Pate, Andrew Magee, Fred Funk and Jay Don Blake were a stroke back. Funk, the Insperity Championship winner in May, missed a birdie putt on 18 by inches that would have given him a share of the lead.

"I had a really efficient front nine," said Funk, who made ...

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The Champions Tour will return to the Atlanta area for the first time since 2000 with the Greater Gwinnett Championship on April 19-21 at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga.

The inaugural $1.8 million event will be played the week after the Masters.

“We have been working on a return to the Atlanta market for a couple of years and it’s exciting to have it come to fruition," Champions Tour President Mike Stevens said in a release. "The current list of Champions Tour players entertained the Atlanta-area fans with some exciting golf at TPC Sugarloaf in the past and they’re anxious to return to a city and a golf course they’ve enjoyed so much."

The last time the Champions Tour held a tournament in the Atlanta area was 12 years ago when it hosted the final Nationwide Championship at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Willie Wood took advantage of Bill Glasson's back-nine collapse to win the inaugural Hawaii Championship on Sunday for his second Champions Tour victory in the last three events.

The 51-year-old Wood birdied the last two holes for a 6-under 66 and won by a stroke when Glasson bogeyed the final hole. Wood played 54 holes without a bogey, finishing at 14-under 202 at Kapolei Golf Course.

"I had a great back nine," Wood said. "I just hung in there and the putts kept continuing to fall, and I got a little bit lucky with the way Bill finished. ... I knew Bill would have to help us out some."

Five strokes behind Glasson entering the round, Wood chipped to 5 feet to set up his birdie on the par-5 17th and holed a 20-footer for birdie on the par-4 18th.

"I know how Bill feels," Wood said "We all go through that."

Wood also rallied to win the Dick's Sporting Goods Open last month in New York, making a long birdie putt on the final hole of regulation and beating Michael Allen with a par on the first hole of a playoff. That was his first victory ...

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KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Bill Glasson moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead into the final round of inaugural Hawaii Championship.

Winless in 46 starts on the 50-and-over tour, the 52-year-old Glasson had a 13-under 131 total. He won seven times on the PGA Tour in an injury-plagued career marked by more than 20 surgeries.

Glasson birdied three of the last five holes after dropping a shot on the par-4 13th.

"Finishing the way I did is going to help tomorrow," he said. "I need to hit some fairways. That's my thing. My irons have kept me in the ballgame. My driver, she's not liking me right now. We're having a little war. So, we'll see who wins that battle."

First-round leader Peter Senior and Mark McNulty were tied for second.

Senior followed his opening 65 with a 70. The 53-year-old Australian is winless in 65 starts in three seasons on the senior tour. He has five runner-up finishes, losing three playoffs.

"I scraped around," Senior said. "The secret to this course is you have to come from the fairway. If you put yourself in ...

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Roger Chapman is living proof perseverance pays off. At age 53, Chapman is enjoying his best season as a professional after 30 years of frustration.

The Englishman won just once in 618 starts on the European Tour. After 62 tournaments on the over 50 circuit, Chapman had won two senior majors. He began with the U.S. Senior PGA Championship at Harbour Shores Golf Club in Michigan in May, winning by two shots. He added the U.S. Senior US Open title in July with three 68s and a closing 66 to overhaul Bernhard Langer.

The affable Englishman was as surprised by his performance this summer as everyone else. It took him a while to get to the bottom of the “Why now?” question, but he thinks he knows why he proudly holds two senior majors.

“I’ve been asked the question a lot, and I’ve thought about it a lot,” Chapman said. “I think it comes down to a simple case of belief. I played the third round of the U.S. Senior PGA Championship with John Cook and Hale Irwin and I shot 64. That was a huge boost for my confidence, because I proved to myself ...

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SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Jay Don Blake won the Boeing Classic on Sunday for his third Champions Tour title, beating Mark O'Meara with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff.

Playing the par-5 18th hole for the third time in less than an hour, Blake tapped in for birdie after O'Meara's 15-foot birdie attempt missed on the low side of the hole. Blake and O'Meara also birdied the hole in regulation for matching 4-under 68s that left them tied at 10-under 206. They missed short birdie putts on the first extra hole.

O'Meara pulled his second shot on the 498-yard, uphill hole, into the rough left of the green and his pitch checked up short. Blake went into the rough behind the green with his second shot, but his pitch nearly went in.

Blake won twice last year on the 50-and-over tour.

The playoff marked the fourth time in eight years that the event has gone to extra holes.

Willie Wood, coming off his first tour victory last week in New York in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, had a 70 finish a stroke back.

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Fred Couples withdrew from the Champion's Tour Boeing Classic on Friday because of back problems on the first hole.

Couples, from Seattle, has a long history of back issues and took three weeks off before the tournament.

After his drive on No. 1 at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Couples lagged behind partners Mark O'Meara and John Cook and rubbed his lower back. When Couples reached his ball, he had a conversation with O'Meara and the two fist pumped. O'Meara and Cook hit their second shots and walked ahead. Couples told his caddie to pick up his ball and the two waited for a cart to return to the clubhouse.

The 1992 Masters champion won the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in March and Senior British Open last month.

ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Willie Wood finally worked his way back to the top.

Wood won the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on Sunday for his first Champions Tour title, beating Michael Allen with a par on the first hole of a playoff.

"It was quite exciting," Wood said. "I hung in there, hung in there, and things turned out great."

Wood made a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation to match Allen, a two-time winner this year, at 13-under 203 on the En-Joie Golf Course. Wood closed with a 66, and Allen shot 66.

In the playoff on the par-4 18th hole, Allen's drive went way left into the water, essentially ending his chances. The playoff was the first in the history of the event.

Woods earned $270,000 for the victory, his first since he won the 1996 Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic for his lone PGA Tour title.

Joey Sindelar, Kenny Perry, Tom Lehman and Brad Faxon finished a stroke back. Sindelar had a 66, Perry and Lehman shot 67, and Faxon had a 71. Sindelar lives an hour west of En-Joie in Horseheads.

Throughout the last 16 years, Wood toiled on the Web.com ...

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ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Through two rounds at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, John Huston is playing a lot like he did last year when he won his lone Champions Tour title.

The defending champion’s drives are still off the mark, but his putts are right on target. In the final round a year ago, though, he started hitting the ball off the tee like he wanted and cruised to a three-stroke victory.

“Hopefully, that’ll happen again because it would certainly make it a lot easier,” Huston said.

Huston shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday at En-Joie Golf Club to top of the leaderboard at 12-under par. He had a one-stroke lead over Brad Faxon, who shot a 66.

A day after heavy rain delayed the first round, play resumed Saturday on a sun-drenched and dried-out course.

Huston had to finish the final three holes of his first round Saturday, and he couldn’t have asked for a better way to start. He pitched in from about 30 yards on the par-4 16th for an eagle, then went on to par the final two holes of his first round.

He rode the momentum into the start of his ...

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ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Bernhard Langer topped the leaderboard at 7 under when first-round play in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open was suspended because of rain Friday.

Coming off a victory two weeks ago in the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn., Langer was facing an 8-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole when play was stopped at En-Joie Golf Course.

“I played pretty solid. I drove the ball very well. I hit a lot of fairways to give myself opportunities with my iron shots,” said Langer, who closed with a 62 in his victory in Minnesota. “I’m disappointed we had to stop because I was going well, feeling good, but hopefully we’ll continue tomorrow.”

After 1.7 inches of rain fell Tuesday night, the course couldn’t hold much more water Friday before it became unplayable. Gene Smith, assistant tournament director for the Champions Tour, said it would’ve taken at least an hour for the course to become playable again once the rain stopped.

“We have several fairways out there that are totally under water. If a player was trying to take relief from casual water, he would probably have to go about 40 yards from where ...

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BLAINE, Minn. — Bernhard Langer rallied to win the 3M Championship for the second time in four years, shooting a 10-under 62 on Sunday to overcome a six-stroke deficit.

The 54-year-old German finished at 18-under 198 at the TPC Twin Cities for his 15th Champions Tour title. He ended a 24-event victory drought, his longest on the 50-and-over tour.

David Peoples, three strokes ahead entering the final round, shot a 70 to finish second — two shots behind. The runner-up finish is his best in 51 starts on the tour.

Kenny Perry and Olin Browne tied for third at 15 under. Perry had a 64, and Browne shot 66.

Langer, also the 2009 event champion, was 5 under on the front nine, added birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 to get within two shots of the lead, and birdied Nos. 14 and 15 to tie Peoples at 17 under.

Moments after Peoples bogeyed No. 16, Langer put his approach within 7 feet on the par-5 18th to set up a clinching birdie. It was the largest final-round comeback in the history of the tournament.

BLAINE, Minn. — David Peoples matched his career best with a 10-under 62 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the Champions Tour's 3M Championship.

Peoples, who twice shot 62 on the PGA Tour, made six straight birdies at the TPC Twin Cities to get to 10 under through seven holes, also birdied Nos. 10, 12 and 13 and closed with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 18. Winless on the 50-and-over tour, he had a 14-under 130 total.

In nine previous starts this year, Peoples has finished better than 50th just twice and none better than 20th place. The two-time PGA Tour winner was third in the Minnesota event two years ago for his best Champions Tour finish.

Eduardo Romero was second after a 65, and Joe Daley was another stroke back after a 67.

Olin Browne (67) and Joel Edwards (69) were 9 under, and Lance Ten Brock (65), Tom Kite (67), Bernhard Langer (69), Mark McNulty (70), Chien Soon Lu and Peter Senior (71) followed at 8 under.

Defending champion Jay Haas was 12 strokes back after his second straight 71.

The course received an inch of rain overnight, further softening the greens. Fifty of 81 ...

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