Five Part of Senior Logjam

Dave Eichelberger and Jose Maria Canizares shot 67s on Saturday and Walter Hall had a 68 in joining a five-player logjam atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the ACE Group Classic.

Dana Quigley and Jim Thorpe, who shared the first-round lead, had 71s and were part of the leading group at nine-under-par 135.

Senior tour rookie Tom Watson and Stewart McGinn shot 67s to join Larry Nelson and John Jacobs at 136. Nelson and Jacobs shot 69.

Raymond Floyd, with a 68, was in a threesome at 137 and Mark Hayes, with the day’s best round of 65, headed a group at 138. Lanny Wadkins, a rookie who opened with a 65 on Friday, struggled to a 73 despite ideal scoring conditions and fell three strokes off the pace.

Watson won 34 tournaments, including eight majors, on the PGA Tour but none in Florida. This is the first full-field tournament Watson has played since the death of his father, Raymond, from a heart attack Jan. 20 before a tournament in Hawaii.

Among the five leaders, only Eichelberger and Quigley have senior tour victories. Eichelberger has five, including the U.S. Senior Open last year, and Quigley has three. Thorpe finished second twice as a rookie last year, Canizares has three second-place finishes and Hall has two.

The tournament is playing out much differently than a year ago when Allen Doyle led wire to wire and won by five shots.

The winner will collect $180,000 from the $1.2-million purse. This is the first year the event has been played at the par-72, 6,960-yard Pelican Marsh Golf Club layout.