GOLF ROUNDUP : Oldies Are Goodies in Phoenix Open

There’s a generation gap in the Phoenix Open, and it’s two shots wide.

Hale Irwin and Ben Crenshaw, two 40-somethings, stood atop the leader board with 36-hole totals of 132, 10 under par and two stokes better than Jim Carter and another oldster, Tom Watson.

Carter, 33, is the kid of the group.

“It’s almost us versus them, the old guys against the young guys,” Irwin, 49 and only six months from senior tour eligibility, said after shooting his second consecutive five-under-par 66. Crenshaw, 43, shot a 64 that included a five-hole stretch of six under par.

The two have 38 tour victories and more than $11 million in earnings.

Carter, 33, has zero victories and has lost his tour card twice.

Crenshaw said he and Irwin were in good enough shape to win.

“It’s a mental game,” Crenshaw said. “It obviously helps to be in great shape, but a golfer plays by his instincts.”

Jim Furyk and John Wilson stayed close at 135, and Billy Mayfair, first-round leader Duffy Waldorf and last week’s Tucson winner, Phil Mickelson, were four shots off the pace at 136.

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While the unheralded had another big day in Manila, with Swede Robert Karlsson shooting a course-record 65, Nick Price seized the lead at the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Price carded a five-under-par 67 to stand at 138 after 36 holes of the $960,000 European PGA Tour event.

He led Karlsson and Fred Couples by a stroke and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, Australia’s Robert Allenby and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie by three.