CARY, N.C. – Kirk Triplett holed out from 143 yards for eagle on the par-4 18th hole Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s SAS Championship.

Triplett, the ACE Group Classic winner in February for his third victory on the 50-and-over tour, finished with a bogey-free 9-under 63 to reach 11-under 133 at rain-softened Prestonwood.

“I think the conditions were a little different from yesterday, a little softer, so personally, I felt you could be a little more aggressive,” Triplett said. “Some of the holes played pretty short yesterday, a little bit longer today. I think the course was similar to how it played the last two years, so I think in some ways, it was more familiar to me.”

Paul Goydos and Tom Lehman were tied for second. Goydos, the Hawaii Championship winner last month for his first senior title, had a 67. Lehman shot 68.

Goydos flew his tee shot in the water and bogeyed the first hole of the day. He called his opening shot a “bit of a wake-up call.”

“I just kind of hung in there and made a couple of nice birdies on 6 and 7,” Goydos said. “But I’ve got a feeling tomorrow you’re going to have to go low and make a lot of birdies.”

First-round leader Guy Boros was tied for fourth at 11 under, following a 66 with a 70. Boros is making his second tour start after turning 50 last month. Fred Funk also was 11 under after a 64. Boros faltered with bogeys on 14 and 15, while Funk birdied five of the last eight holes.

Funk said he was having issues with his calf Friday, but he felt better for the second round.

“I was struggling to even hit the golf ball (Friday),” Funk said. “Today, I was feeling a lot better and was able to swing at it, so I picked up about 30 yards on my drive.”

Bernhard Langer, the 2012 winner, was tied for ninth at 6 under after a 65. Langer has a tour-high five victories – two of them majors – and leads the money list and Charles Schwab Cup points race.

Montgomerie, second in the Schwab Cup standings, was another stroke back after a 66. He has two major victories this year.

Defending champion Russ Cochran was 4 under after a 69.

On the Canadian watch, Stephen Ames and Rod Spittle have a share of 49th place at even-par 144. Jim Rutledge is tied for 65th at 2-over 146.

CARY, N.C. – Guy Boros birdied the final hole Friday for a 6-under 66 and a one-stroke lead over Tom Lehman and Marco Dawson after the first round of the Champions Tour’s SAS Championship.

Boros, the son of late Hall of Famer Julius Boros, turned 50 on Sept. 4 and is playing in his second event on the tour. He won the PGA Tour’s 1996 Greater Vancouver Open.

“The most important thing my dad taught me was to have a good time,” Boros said. “If you’re not enjoying something it’s tough. But he absolutely loved the game. I wish it would have rubbed off on me a little more, but I do enjoy playing. I like it very much.

“I putted good in the qualifier on Monday, and I switch putters every other week it seems like. Hopefully, I’ll keep putting well and I’ll stick with this one quite a while.”

Lehman said the course was set up well for aggressive golf.

“I think hitting it in the fairway is a really important part of the equation here and I drove it in the fairway a lot,” Lehman said. “Once you drive it in the fairway, you can get aggressive and start attacking the pins. The pins were actually in pretty good spots today.”

Dawson also was optimistic after his start.

“I actually managed my game well around the course,” Dawson said. “I hit the right shots when I needed to. I think I pulled the right clubs. I didn’t hit any foul balls, and I didn’t hit any that were way long or way short. And I didn’t really hit any bad putts.”

Hale Irwin, the 69-year-old star who won the 2005 tournament at Prestonwood, opened with a 68 – the seventh time he has bettered his age this year. He had six birdies and a double bogey on No. 8.

“I played OK,” Irwin said. “When you look at my score today and when you look at (playing partner) Tom (Lehman’s) score and how he’s playing and there’s got to be more than one-stroke difference – he played very well and could have scored lower than that. I’m not happy with the way it ended, but all in all I played well today.”

Hawaii Championship winner Paul Goydos and Larry Mize also shot 68.

Defending champion Russ Cochran had a 72.

Bernhard Langer, the 2012 winner, and Colin Montgomerie, shot 73. Playing partner Nick Faldo had a 70.

Langer has a tour-high five victories – two of them majors – and leads the money list and Charles Schwab Cup points race. Montgomerie has two major victories this year and is second in the Schwab Cup standings.

Tom Byrum had a hole-in-one on the island-green eighth in a 76.

Stephen Ames is the top Canauck thru 18 holes. He opened with a 1-over 73. Rod Spittle carded a 75 Friday, while Jim Rutledge had a 78.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – John Cook won the First Tee Open on Sunday at Pebble Beach for his 10th Champions Tour title, closing with a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Tom Byrum.

The 56-year-old Cook birdied the par-4 13th and parred the final five holes to finish at 11-under 204 total. He won the 1981 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach for the first of his 11 PGA Tour titles and also won the 1975 California State Amateur at the course.

Cook parred the par-5 18th, missing a 25-foot birdie try that left a tap-in for the victory.

“I played to make par,” said Cook, who missed 10 weeks this season after freak non-golf back injury at his Florida home. “I don’t often do that, but maybe I’ve learned something in 40 or 45 years.”

Byrum also shot 69. Winless on the 50-and-over tour after winning once on the PGA Tour, he bogeyed the par-5 14th and par-3 17th and closed with a par.

“I needed to make a birdie and I made a par,” Byrum said. “It was a good par after hitting in the bunker, but I just didn’t make a good shot I needed. But I am encouraged with how I played.”

Cook won for the first time since the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January 2013. He began the final round with a one-shot lead over Byrum and Skip Kendall.

“Today I played nicely,” Cook said. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but my putting showed up.”

Kendall, playing his second Champions Tour event after earning a spot in open qualifying Tuesday, tied for third with England’s Roger Chapman. Kendall shot 70, and Chapman had a 65.

Woody Austin was fourth at 8 under after a 66.

Kirk Triplett, the winner the last two years, shot a 67 to tie for sixth at 7 under with Billy Andrade (69), Fred Funk (70) and Lee Janzen (70).

Davis Love III, also making his second Champions Tour start, had a 74 to drop into a tie for 24th at 3 under. The 20-time PGA Tour winner tied for 64th last week in Hawaii.

Also among the group who tied for 24th was Calgary’s Stephen Ames, who carded a 69 Sunday to climb 15 spots up the leaderboard.

Fellow Canadian Rod Spittle shot a 75 and fell 27 spots to share 43rd spot.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – John Cook won the First Tee Open on Sunday at Pebble Beach for his 10th Champions Tour title, closing with a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Tom Byrum.

The 56-year-old Cook birdied the par-4 13th and parred the final five holes to finish at 11-under 204 total. He won the 1981 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach for the first of his 11 PGA Tour titles and also won the 1975 California State Amateur at the course.

Cook parred the par-5 18th, missing a 25-foot birdie try that left a tap-in for the victory.

“I played to make par,” said Cook, who missed 10 weeks this season after freak non-golf back injury at his Florida home. “I don’t often do that, but maybe I’ve learned something in 40 or 45 years.”

Byrum also shot 69. Winless on the 50-and-over tour after winning once on the PGA Tour, he bogeyed the par-5 14th and par-3 17th and closed with a par.

“I needed to make a birdie and I made a par,” Byrum said. “It was a good par after hitting in the bunker, but I just didn’t make a good shot I needed. But I am encouraged with how I played.”

Cook won for the first time since the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January 2013. He began the final round with a one-shot lead over Byrum and Skip Kendall.

“Today I played nicely,” Cook said. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but my putting showed up.”

Kendall, playing his second Champions Tour event after earning a spot in open qualifying Tuesday, tied for third with England’s Roger Chapman. Kendall shot 70, and Chapman had a 65.

Woody Austin was fourth at 8 under after a 66.

Kirk Triplett, the winner the last two years, shot a 67 to tie for sixth at 7 under with Billy Andrade (69), Fred Funk (70) and Lee Janzen (70).

Davis Love III, also making his second Champions Tour start, had a 74 to drop into a tie for 24th at 3 under. The 20-time PGA Tour winner tied for 64th last week in Hawaii.

Also among the group who tied for 24th was Calgary’s Stephen Ames, who carded a 69 Sunday to climb 15 spots up the leaderboard.

Fellow Canadian Rod Spittle shot a 75 and fell 27 spots to share 43rd spot.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – John Cook shot a 4-under 68 at Pebble Beach on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Tom Byrum and Skip Kendall in the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open.

Cook had eight birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey to reach 8-under 135. He won the 1981 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach for the first of his 11 PGA Tour titles.

Kendall, playing in his second Champions Tour event after earning a spot in the field in open qualifying Tuesday, had a 69 at Pebble Beach. Byrum shot a 3-under 68 at Poppy Hills.

The final round will be played at Pebble Beach.

Marco Dawson was fourth at 6 under after a 68 at Poppy Hills.

Davis Love III, also making his second Champions Tour start, and two-time U.S. Open Lee Janzen topped the group at 5 under. Love had a 67 at Pebble Beach, and Janzen a 70 at Poppy Hills.

First-round leader Blaine McCallister was 4 under after a 73 at Pebble Beach.

Rod Spittle is the leading Canadian. He shot a second straight 70 and is 3 under.

Two-time defending champion Kirk Triplett was 2 under after a 72 at Pebble Beach.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Blaine McCallister birdied his last two holes Friday at Poppy Hills for a 5-under 66 and the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open.

McCallister, seeking his first Champions Tour victory after winning five times on the PGA Tour career, closed with birdies on the par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth holes.

“I’m swinging it well and hitting the golf ball well,” said McCallister, who has one top-10 finish in 74 career Champions Tour starts. “I’m starting to feel like I belong out here.”

McCallister’s round, which ended 5 1/2 hours after John Cook took the morning clubhouse lead, included a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th – his eighth hole of the day.

“They say golf is about patience, patience, patience,” McCallister said. “Some people have been nice to me with sponsors’ exemptions and I feel it’s finally starting to pay off.”

Cook, Skip Kendall, John Inman, Lee Janzen and Tom Byrum were 4 under. Cook and Kendall shot 67 at Poppy Hills, and Inman, Janzen and Byrum had 68s at Pebble Beach, the site of the final round.

“It’s taken me awhile to get back to 100 percent,” said Cook, a nine-time Champions Tour winner who missed 10 weeks of the season after a suffering a back injury at his Florida home in February.

Kendall made the field Tuesday in an open qualifier.

“I putted extremely well and I took advantage of my opportunities,” Kendall said.

Two-time defending champion Kirk Triplett had 69 at Poppy Hills.

Davis Love III, making his second Champions Tour start, had a 71 at Poppy Hills. The 20-time PGA Tour winner tied for 64th last week in Hawaii. He won the PGA Tour’s Pebble Beach event in 2001 and 2003.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii -Paul Goydos won the Hawaii Championship on Sunday for his first Champions Tour title, breaking out of a tight pack with four straight birdies.

Making his fifth start of the 50-and-over tour since turning 50 in June, Goydos closed with a 4-under 68 at Kapolei Golf Club for a tournament-record 19-under 197 total. He opened with rounds of 66 and 63 for a share of the second-round lead with Fred Funk.

“I think I used what I’ve learned today,” Goydos said. “I’m making progress, which I’m pleased with. I didn’t play well on the PGA Tour this year. Happy held it together. Handled adversity well.”

Funk finished with a 69 to tie for second with Scott Dunlap. The 58-year-old Funk had a hole-in-one on No. 16, using a 4-hybrid on the 200-yard hole.

“It was good and bad,” Funk said. “Disappointing. Had a lot of chances. … I’m doing everything I can to stay competitive.”

Dunlap shot a 65.

“Today was the toughest day wind-wise,” said Dunlap, the Boeing Classic winner last month and also second two weeks ago in the Quebec Championship. “I’m playing the best golf that I’ve played in a long, long time.”

After birdieing Nos. 14-17 to take a two-stroke lead, Goydos scrambled for bogey on the par-4 18th after flying his approach well above the green and through trees to the left of the grandstand.

“You’re a little nervy up there,” Goydos said.

He started the birdie run with a 6-footer on the par-5 14th, hit a 140-yard shot to an inch on the par-4 15th, holed a 15-footer on the 16th and made a 6-footer on the par-5 17th.

The putt on 16 gave broke a tie with Funk and Dunlap.

“I couldn’t hit a better putt than the I did on 16,” Goydos said. “That putt on 16 was key. I’m proud of that. … I’m happy how I handled things at 16 after Fred made ace.”

The birdie putt on 17 gave him the cushion he ended up needing on 18.

“That was massive,” Goydos said.

Goydos won twice on the PGA Tour, the last in the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.

“I love it over,” Goydos said. “It’s a great place to play golf.”

He broke the tournament record of 14-under 202 set by Willie Wood in 2012 in the inaugural event.

Davis Love III struggled in his Champions Tour debut, closing with a 72 to tie for 64th in the 81-man field at 3 under. The 20-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 in April.

Canadian Rod Spittle tied for 40th at 7-under 209.

Davis Love III – a 20-time PGA Tour winner who turned 50 in April – struggled in his Champions Tour debut, closing with a 72 to tie for 64th in the 81-man field at 3 under with Canada’s Jim Rutledge.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Fred Funk shot a 10-under 62 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Paul Goydos in the Champions Tour’s Hawaii Championship.

Funk had 11 birdies and a bogey at Kapolei Golf Club.

“You’ve got to make a lot of birdies out here,” Funk said. “My putter came around. … Never seen greens this good. They’re pretty fast. They’re pristine.”

Goydos shot a 63 to match Funk at 15-under 129. They broke the tournament 36-hole record of 13-under set by Bill Glasson in 2012.

Playing his fifth Champions Tour event since turning 50 in June, Goydos holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 first hole and closed with a short birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

“Making the putt on No. 1 was key for me,” Goydos said. “A good thing happened!”

Funk made seven birdies – most on short putts – in an eight-hole stretch from No. 4 to 12. He also bogeyed No. 8. He added birdies on the par-5 14th and 17th and closed with an 8-footer on 18.

“Today, was an exceptional day hitting close,” Funk said. “I’ve been playing well tee to green this year, but the putter has let me down. I switched putters this week.”

The 58-year-old Funk has nine Champions Tour titles, the last in June with partner Jeff Sluman in the Legends of Golf team event.

Corey Pavin and Vijay Singh were 13 under. Pavin birdied the last five holes for a 61, and Singh shot 65.

Pavin holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th. He also made birdie putts of 25 feet on No. 8, 15 feet on No. 10 and 25 feet on No. 16.

“I made some putts, finally,” Pavin said. “I’ve been working on working on it. It’s nice to see some putts going in. I hit a really solid firm putt on 18. … I like Hawaii a lot. When I come here it kind of puts me at peace. I feel relaxed here.”

Tom Pernice Jr., the first-round leader after a 60, was in the group at 12 under after a 72.

Davis Love III followed his opening 69 with a 72 to drop into a tie for 57th at 3 under in his Champions Tour debut. The 20-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 in April.

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Tom Pernice Jr. birdied his final four holes for a 12-under 60 and a four-stroke lead Friday in the Champions Tour’s Hawaii Championship.

Pernice finished a stroke off the tour record of 59 set by Kevin Sutherland last month in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York.

Davis Love III opened with a 69 in his Champions Tour debut. The 20-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 in April.

Pernice played his final nine holes – the front nine at Kapolei Golf Club – in 7-under 29, also birdieing Nos. 1, 2 and 4. He had five birdies on his opening nine.

The 55-year-old Pernice, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour winner, won the Principal Charity Classic in June in Iowa for his third Champions Tour title.

Michael Allen was second after a 64.

Joey Sindelar and Scott Dunlap shot 65, and Jay Haas, Vijay Singh, Paul Goydos, Jim Carter and Mike Goodes followed at 66.

Rod Spittle of St. Catharines, Ont. is the leading Canadian after 18 holes. He’s 4 under after a 68.

Bernhard Langer, the tour leader with five victories, skipped the tournament to play in a European Senior Tour event in Germany.

QUEBEC CITY -Wes Short Jr. made an 8-foot eagle putt on the final hole to win the Quebec Championship on Sunday for his first Champions Tour’s title.

The 51-year-old Short played the final 10 holes in 8 under for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke victory over Scott Dunlap in the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the area since 1956.

“It was slow in coming, that’s for sure,” Short said. “The first eight holes I parred, and I get to No. 9 and I hit a hybrid in the sand trap and then hit it out to about 6 feet and I felt like that was a very important putt to make. I made it. Then it seemed to open the floodgates.”

Dunlap, the Boeing Classic winner two weeks ago, also eagled the par-5 18th for a 64.

“Thinking back a couple weeks ago in my comment after getting a win, you can play winning golf and not hoist the trophy,” Dunlap said. “In any given week there’s probably two or maybe three guys who play well enough to win, but sometimes you just get beat.”

Moments after Dunlap’s eagle putt, Short holed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 17 to pull within one.

Short set up the winning putt with a hybrid from 251 yards on the par-5 closing hole.

“I didn’t really look at the leaderboard until the 18th hole,” Short said. “I looked over and actually I kind of thought I was going to be in the lead or tied with Scott going to the last hole. Then I looked over

there and he had made eagle, so now I’m one behind and I have to birdie the last hole to get into a playoff or he’s going to win. I hit a very nice hybrid in there, and it’s a nice situation to know even if I miss it I was going to have another chance to get in a playoff to win.”

Short finished at 15-under 201 at La Tempete and earned $240,000 to jump from 36th to 20th on the money list with $379,719. He won in Las Vegas in 2005 for his lone PGA Tour title.

“I was hitting it pretty good, so didn’t really make a lot the first two days,” Short said. “But I saved an awful lot for that last nine holes.”

Brad Faxon and Esteban Toledo, the winner last year at La Vallee du Richelieu in the then-Montreal Championship, shot 71 to tie for third at 11 under. They were tied for the second-round lead.

Jim Rutledge finished tied for 10th at 8-under 208 to top the Canadians in the field.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen closed with a 72 to tie for 23rd at 7 under in his first Champions Tour event. He turned 50 last week.