Jimenez leads Invesco QQQ Championship

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Miguel Angel Jimenez shot his second straight 4-under 68 on Saturday to take the second-round lead in the PGA TOUR Champions' Invesco QQQ Championship.

Second in the season points standings, Jimenez had a one-stroke lead over Stephen Ames, Michael Bradley and Scott Parel in the second of the tour's three playoff events.

Jimenez has six senior victories, winning major championships this year at the Regions Tradition and The Senior Open. The 54-year-old Spanish star closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th after missing some late birdie chances.

"You need to place the ball," Jimenez said. "It's not totally about hitting long. Hitting long is important, but you need to place the ball on the golf course."

The top 54 in the standings qualified for the event, with 50 players making the trip to Sherwood Country Club. The top 36 on Sunday will advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix on Nov. 8-11.

"At the end of the day, you can't focus on that, you have to focus on the day," Jimenez said. "Live the moment, live the present."

Ames shot 65, Bradley 69m and Parel 70. First-round leader Tom Byrum (72), David McKenzie (70) and David Toms (67) were 6 under, and points leader Bernhard Langer (71) was 5 under with Paul Goydos (69).

Langer is the defending tournament champion. The 61-year-old German star finished second behind Woody Austin last week in the playoff opener in Virginia after winning the regular-season finale in North Carolina.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, 68-68—136 (-8)
Charles Schwab Cup Standings – Start: 2nd/ Projected: 1st

• Jimenez birdied the final hole to take the lead over Ames, Bradley and Parel with an 8-under 136 36-hole score.
• It is the 11th time Jimenez has led/co-led entering the final round on PGA TOUR Champions. He has converted four of those leads into a victory. Both of Jimenez’s wins this season came when he was leading entering the final round (Regions Tradition, The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex).
• Jimenez has posted three straight top-five finishes and six top-10s in his last seven starts. In just 81 starts this year, he has 12 top-10s, tied with McCarron for second-most on Tour (Langer holds the most with 13).
• This is the second year he has qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. Last year, Jimenez fell to Langer in a two-hole playoff. He finished the 2017 Charles Schwab Cup No. 6 in the standings.

First-Round Lead Notes

• So far this year, a leader/co-leader heading into the final round has gone on to win 10 out of 24 tournaments.
• A second-round leader/co-leader has won each of the first two Invesco QQQ Championships. Last year, Bernhard Langer was tied for the lead with Miguel Angel Jimenez and David Toms. Langer made a 25-foot putt to defeat Jimenez in the second playoff hole.

Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs Implications
After Sunday’s final round, the top-36 players in the standings will qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Last year, Wes Short Jr. was the only player to move into the top-36 and advance to the final weekend of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.

• Players ranked No. 1-7 can win the Charles Schwab Cup, even if they do not win either of the last two Playoff events.
• Players ranked No. 8-14 must win at least one of the last two Playoffs events to have a chance to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship
• Players ranked No. 15-21 must win the last two Playoff events in order to have a chance to win the Charles Schwab Cup.

Other Notes

• Stephen Ames (Start: 42nd/ Projected:24th) carded the lowest round of the day with a bogey-free 7-under 65, moving up the leaderboard 25 places into T2. The round is his best since carding a 7-under 65 at the 2017 Insperity Invitational. This is Ames’ second appearance in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. Last year he finished No. 18 in the standings. This year Ames finished T3 at the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex and has eight finishes in the top-25.
• Making his first start at the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, Michael Bradley (Start: 48th/ Projected: 30th) carded a bogey-free 3-under 69 second round to sit T2 entering Sunday. Bradley’s best finish on Tour this season came when he became the seventh alternate and earned entry into the DICK’S Sporting Good Open to finish runner-up.
• Scott Parel (Start: 6th/ Projected:4th) remains in second place after the second round. He carded an eagle on No. 11 and two birdies for a 2-under 70. In Parel’s last 29 rounds, he has only recorded two rounds over par. Last year, Parel finished the Charles Schwab Cup ranked No. 21.
• Defending Champion Bernhard Langer (Start: 1st/ Projected: 2nd) carded a 1-under 71 in the second round to sit at 5-under 139 in a three-way tie for seventh. Langer’s biggest come-from-behind victory was at the 2012 SAS Championship where he entered the final round T15 and went on to win by two strokes. Should Langer go on to win he would eliminate all but three players from the Charles Schwab Cup contention (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly, Scott McCarron).
• Kevin Sutherland (Start:15th// Projected: 15th), the reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion, is T34 after shooting 2-over-par in the second round and is even for the tournament.
• Woody Austin (Start: 8th/ Projected: 8th), who won the first Playoffs event at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, is T31 after rounds of 72-71 for a 1-under 143 total.