George Archer got a balky putter to convert an 8-foot birdie on the last hole Saturday and retained the lead after two rounds of the $950,000 Cadillac NFL Classic.
Archer's up-and-down par round of 72 gave him a 5-under-par 139 total and a one-stroke lead over Senior PGA Tour rookie Rik Massengale, who jumped into contention with a 68 on the tight Upper Montclair Country Club course.Dave Stockton and Hugh Baiocchi of South Africa were tied for third, two shots off the lead. Terry Dill and Bruce Crampton were the only other players under par, tied at 1-under.
The 20-to-30 mph winds that buffeted the course Friday died down for the second round and there were 22 sub-par rounds compared to three on Friday.
Archer, who is looking to rebound from a hip replacement 13 months ago and who still battles recurrent leg pain, started the round with a four-shot lead.
However, he never got anything going, finishing with four birdies and four bogeys. He lost the lead briefly on the back nine but got it back.
"I can't believe I'm in the lead," said Archer, whose last win on tour was here in 1995. "There should be 50 guys ahead of me. But I played such an amazing round on Friday I can understand."
One of the Senior Tour's better putters, Archer struggled all day with his putting, leaving four 5-foot putts short of the hole. He missed a 3-footer for par on No. 17 but rebounded on 18 by making a smooth stroke.
Massengale, who left the regular PGA Tour in 1982 because of back problems, only got into the tournament on Monday because his three tournament wins, the last the 1977 Bob Hope Classic, met the criteria for an automatic berth that had opened.
He actually was trying to qualify for this event Monday and was 5-over-par when a tournament official went on the course to tell him he was getting in the back door.