Rocco Mediate eagled his final hole and shot 29 on the back nine to take over the early lead on Friday at the Shaw Charity Classic, the inaugural Champions Tour event being played at the Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
He set a course record with his eight-under 63 on Friday’s opening round. He is seeking his second win this season after capturing the title at the season-opening Allianz Championship, where he shot his career-low round on the Champions Tour, an 11-under 61 in the second round.
He has also posted four other top-10 finishes in 2013 to go along with his victory.
The 50-year-old Mediate cruised through his front nine with eight pars and a birdie before putting together a dominant back nine to race into the lead. His push started with a birdie at the 10th, and following three straight pars, Mediate birdied the Par-3 14th and eagled the Par-5 15th to move to five-under.
A birdie at the Par-4 17th moved him within a shot of clubhouse leaders Bart Bryant and Rod Spittle, and leapt ahead of them with an eagle at the Par-5 18th last hole to claim the outright lead. He eagled two of the final four holes and played the final five holes in six-under,
"I didn't realize I shot that low on the back," said Mediate, who credited caddie Martin Courtois for helping him get the ball rolling.
"I changed something up with putting today, just had Martin line me up because I hadn't made a lot for a while," Mediate said. "Today, he lined me up and I made a lot of putts. We'll stick with that for a while."
Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ontario and two-time winner of the Canadian Amateur, had earlier opened his bogey-free round with a birdie at the first, and added gains at the third and sixth to make the turn at three-under.
After rolling in an eagle at the 11th, the Canadian poured in back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th to reach seven-under and closed with three straight pars to remain there.
"Obviously, it was a very solid day and again it just started great right from the start," Spittle said. "I drove it in the fairway all day, hit a whole bunch of greens and I hope to be equally as boring the next couple days so we can chat again."
Bryant, meanwhile, was playing alongside Spittle and countered an opening bogey with birdies at the second, fourth, sixth and eighth. He stayed hot with a birdie at the 11th to reach four-under, and later birdied three of his last four holes to grab a share of the lead.
Jeff Sluman and Bobby Clampett also matched Bryant and Spittle later in the round at seven-under 64 for a four-way share of second place. Sluman posted seven birdies during his bogey-free round, while Clampett countered three bogeys during his up-and-down round with eight birdies and an eagle.
David Frost, Michael Allen, Craig Stadler, Scott Hoch and Sandy Lyle sit a stroke behind them T-6th at six-under 65.
Joel Edwards, Mark Brooks, Kirk Triplett, Jay Don Blake and Tom Byrum all carded five-under 66s to share 11th.
Fred Couples opened with a two-under 69 and is T-35th. The highlight shot of the day came from Gene Jones who recorded a hole-in-one at the Par-3 14th.