PITTSBURGH – Joe Durant is trying desperately to hold onto his old job on the PGA Tour.

If it doesn’t work out, his new gig is looking more promising all the time.

The Champions Tour rookie shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday in the first round of the Senior Players Championship, making seven birdies against one bogey to join David Frost and Doug Garwood atop the leaderboard at defenseless Fox Chapel.

Bernhard Langer, Corey Pavin, Larry Mize, Steve Pate, Olin Browne, Bart Bryant, Peter Fowler and Wes Short Jr. shot 65. Colin Montgomerie, the Senior PGA winner last month, opened with a 5-under 30 on the front nine before fading to a 69.

The 50-year-old Durant, a four-time winner on the main tour, is trying to split time between both circuits this summer. The pressure to earn enough money while making limited PGA Tour starts has been draining. In a way, the 50-and-over tour is allowing him to recharge.

“I’m trying so hard to make magic happen in one week (on the PGA Tour) and it’s just not working out very well,” Durant said.

Durant tied for 31st last week in Connecticut in the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship, a finish he believes should have been higher had he not slogged through the second and third rounds.

“It easily could have been a top-10 week if I had just managed my game a little better Friday and Saturday,” Durant said.

There were no such issues Thursday. Durant holed out from the greenside bunker on the par-3 third, kick-starting his round. He ended it with a sliding left-to-right birdie putt on the par-5 18th for his 64, matching his best round since joining the Champions Tour after turning 50 in April.

“It all comes down to making putts,” Durant said. “If you make putts, the game is real easy. If you’re burning edges, it’s not that easy.”

Frost and Garwood quickly joined Durant atop the leaderboard.

Frustrated after a middling 39th-place finish at the Encompass Championship last week in Illinois, Frost ditched the shafts on his irons for the first time in four years, trading them in for something that offered a little more forgiveness. The move paid off with a near flawless round in which he missed only one fairway and three greens.

“I almost want to kick myself for not (switching shafts) earlier,” Frost said.

Garwood, a two-time All-American during his college career at Fresno State, has finally found a home on the Champions Tour after spending most of his adult life on pro golf’s fringe. He never played in a PGA Tour event and sold insurance among other things before trying to give the 50-and-over circuit a shot last spring.

After some initial struggles, it is paying off handsomely.

Garwood lost a playoff four weeks ago in the Principal Charity Classic and backed it up with a runner-up finish last weekend. Garwood’s round included three straight birdies on Nos. 12-14, including a 35-footer on the par-4 14th. His birdie attempt on the 18th stopped one roll short of giving him the lead.

Being near the lead is becoming familiar territory for Garwood, though he has done his best to downplay his steady rise.

“I’ve always believed the lower the expectation, the easier it is to meet,” he said, laughing. “There’s enough pressure just being out there with all the hoopla. So I just go out and try to shoot my best … trying to shoot 64, it just kind of happens.”

Defending champion Kenny Perry, looking for his fourth major title in the last year, failed to take advantage of the prime scoring conditions. Playing his eighth tournament in nine weeks, Perry shot an even-par 70.

Perry’s score was actually one better than the 71 he posted in the opening round last year. Perry responded last June by shooting a combined 20 under over the final 54 holes to edge Fred Couples and Duffy Waldorf for the first major pro title of his lengthy career.

The 53-year-old Kentuckian, the Tradition winner last month in the first senior major of the year, doubted Fox Chapel would be as generous this time around, but with wide open fairways and damp greens, it wasn’t a fair fight. More than half the 81 players finished at even par or better. Canada’s Rod Spittle was one of those players. He shot a 1-under 69 and was five shots off the lead, tied for 29th after the opening-round. The other Canadian in the field, Jim Rutledge, finished at 2-over and was tied for 61st.

GLENVIEW, Ill. – After struggling with his putting much of the round, Tom Lehman made a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship.

The 55-year-old Lehman closed with a 2-under 70 at North Shore and had a 15-under 201 total for his eighth senior title and first since 2012. He rebounded from bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 – his only dropped strokes of the week – with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, parred the par-3 17th and won on the par-4 18th.

“It wasn’t my very best performance today, but it was good enough,” Lehman said.

Michael Allen and Kirk Triplett tied for second, a stroke back. Allen shot 67, and Triplett had a 68.

Lehman, the 1996 British Open winner, opened with rounds of 65 and 66 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. He ended a 27-event victory drought and won $270,000.

“The check is sweet, but the trophy is sweeter,” Lehman said.

His last win was the Schwab Cup Championship at the end of the 2012 season.

Lehman, who was bogey-free and made 13 birdies in the first two rounds, parred the first 11 holes before birdieing No. 12.

“I had a rough start and wasn’t putting like I did the first two days,” Lehman said. “It put me in a bit of a bind. After 14, I told my caddie, `Let’s have the best four holes of the week.'”

Lehman sank an 18-footer on the 15th and a 6-footer on the 16th to get back to 14 under.

Triplett birdied the first, sixth, 13th and 16th holes in his bogey-free round. His approach on the final hole stopped in the back fringe. He missed a 20-foot birdie attempt.

“I said early in the week that 15 under would win and 15 under wins,” Triplett said. “I had some chances, missed a couple and made a couple. I had a pretty tough putt on 18 coming down that hill to keep it on line. So, next week.”

Allen birdied three of the last four holes, with his approach on 18 hitting the flagstick and stopping 4 inches from the cup.

Doug Garwood was fourth at 13 under after a 66. He played the first 10 holes in 4 under and briefly grabbed a share of the lead at 13 under with an eagle on the 16th hole, but three-putted for bogey on the 17th to fall back.

Russ Cochran took advantage of a swing adjustment to shooting the best round of the tournament, an 8-under 64 that left him in a tie for sixth at 10 under.

“I got up on my toes more,” Cochran said. “Seems like a little thing, but it seemed like it did the trick.”

Colin Montgomerie was 10 under after a 70.

Hale Irwin matched his age with a 69 to tie for 39th at 3 under.

Canada’s Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge finished tied for 49th and tied for 73rd respectively.

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Tom Lehman opened a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship, shooting a bogey-free 6-under 66 before play was suspended because of a thunderstorm.

Lehman had a 13-under 131 total at North Shore Country Club, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. The 55-year-old Minnesotan won the last of his seven senior titles in 2012.

“It’s been a while since I had one bogey-free round, and to do two in a row is special,” Lehman said. “I haven’t missed many putts inside 6 feet. If you were to rate whether I’m making the most of my opportunities, I think you’d say I’m doing pretty well.”

The 1996 British Open winner chipped in from 20 feet for a birdie and made five putts, the longest from 7 feet, for his other birdies.

Thirty-one players were unable to finish the round.

Kirk Triplett, John Inman, Roger Chapman and Bart Bryant were 10 under. Triplett and Inman shot 67, Chapman had a 68, and Bryant had two holes left when play was washed out for the day. Bryant was 5 under for the day.

Triplett hit 14 greens, one-putted seven of them and chipped in for birdie on another.

“There are plenty of birdie chances here,” Triplett said about North Shore, hit by hard rain early in the week and another shower Saturday. “The greens are not going to firm up.”

Inman advanced to the quarterfinals in the 1983 U.S. Amateur at North Shore.

“I came out here and I didn’t remember a hole,” Inman said.

Michael Allen was four strokes back at 9 under, also with two holes left.

Colin Montgomerie, the Senior PGA Championship winner in his last tour start, was 5 under for the day and 8 under overall with two holes left.

Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer was 5 under with five holes to play.

Defending champion Craig Stadler was 1 over with two holes remaining.

Canada’s Rob Spittle shot 73 Saturday to place him among a group tied for 34th.

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Tom Lehman birdied four straight holes and finished with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead Friday in the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship.

Finishing on the front nine, Lehman birdied Nos. 4-7 and closed with two pars at North Shore Country Club. The 55-year-old Minnesotan nearly holed out for an eagle on the par-5 sixth, leaving a 6-inch putt, and ran in a 15-footer on the par-3 seventh.

He has struggled with his putting since winning the last of his seven senior titles in 2012.

“I’ve been living in this zone of second-guessing my reads, second-guessing my stroke because I misread so many putts,” said Lehman, whose best finish this season is a tie for third at the Tradition. “Then I become less committed to the putt and start putting bad strokes on them. It’s kind of a cycle. It’s been a very frustrating last couple of years in that way.”

Of his seven birdie putts, the longest were three from about 15 feet.

Doug Garwood and England’s Roger Chapman were a stroke back at 66, and Mark O’Meara, Sandy Lyle, Jeff Sluman, Michael Allen, Bart Bryant, Kirk Triplett and John Inman shot 67.

Chapman made four straight birdies early in his round, then birdied the 11th and 14th holes en route to his best score of the season. He switched caddies this week, using veteran Angel Monguzzi.

“I felt totally in control,” Chapman said. “There have been times this year I’ve been anxious. Today, I was very relaxed going around with Angel. He seemed to be saying the right things at the right time.”

Garwood, a playoff loser this month in the Principal Charity Classic in Iowa, chipped in from the rough on the 13th for one of his eight birdies.

“It gave me a boost as far as being comfortable with all the players,” Garwood said about the second-place finish in Iowa.

Canada’s Rod Spittle opened with a 68 and was tied for 11th heading into the weekend. The other Canadian in the field, Jim Rutledge, carded a 75.

Colin Montgomerie, the Senior PGA Championship winner in his last tour start, had a 69.

Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer shot 71. He had a double-bogey 7 on No. 6.

Defending champion Craig Stadler opened with a 73.

RIDGEDALE, Mo. – Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk teamed to win the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf on Sunday, and Jim Colbert and Jim Thorpe topped the Legends Division for players 65 and older.

Sluman and Funk finished with a 6-under 48 at Top of the Rock, the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, to beat Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen by a stroke.

The winners finished at 20-under 159. They opened with an 11-under 61 in better-ball play on the regulation Buffalo Ridge course and had a 50 on Saturday on the par-3 layout.

Haas and Jacobsen, the second-round leaders, finished with a 50.

Sluman and Funk had a 1-under 26 in the opening alternate-shot nine and closed with a 5-under 22 in the best-ball nine. Sluman also won last year, teaming with Brad Faxon in Savannah, Georgia.

In the nine-hole Legends finale, Colbert and Thorpe had a 4-under 27 in better-ball play for a three-stroke victory over Bruce Fleisher and Larry Nelson. Colbert and Thorpe finished at 11 under for 45 holes.

RIDGEDALE, Mo. – Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 on the par-3 Top of the Rock course.

Haas and Jacobsen played nine holes of alternate shot and nine of better ball at Top of the Rock, the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, after opening with a better-ball 62 on Friday on the regulation Buffalo Ridge layout. They had a 15-under 110 total.

Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk were second after a 50 on the par-3 course, the site of the final round Sunday.

In Legends Division for players 65 and older, the teams of Jim Colbert-Jim Thorpe and Bruce Fleisher-Larry Nelson shared the lead at 7-under 118. Colbert and Thorpe had a 2-under 52 on the par-3 course, and Fleisher and Nelson shot 56.

Craig Stadler and Kirk Triplett were third in the Champions Division, shooting a 64 at Buffalo Ridge. The teams of Tom Watson-Andy North and Tom Pernice Jr.-Bob Tway were tied for fourth at 11 under after rounds on the regulation course. Watson and North had a 65, and Pernice and Tway shot 64.

Pernice won the Principal Charity Classic last week in Iowa for his third senior title.

In the Legends Division, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player had a 66 at Buffalo Ridge to move into a tie for third with Butch Baird and Al Geiberger at 4 under. Baird and Geiberger had a 54 on the par-3 course.

RIDGEDALE, Mo. – Kenny Perry and Russ Cochran teamed to birdie the final three holes for a share of the lead with Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk on Friday in the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf.

The leaders were at 10-under 61 after their better-ball rounds on the Buffalo Ridge course.

“For the most part we hung in there, got the ball in the fairway and had a couple chances most of the time,” Cochran said. “Kenny had the eye and when a guy’s got that, you want to get out of his way.”

In Savannah, Georgia, last year, Sluman teamed with Brad Faxon to win the Champions Division. Sluman turned to Funk after Faxon was unable to play because of previous commitment.

“We’re just really comfortable together, No. 1, but we got off to a really good start and that helped,” Funk said. “We made some really good putts.”

Other players opened at Top of the Rock, the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. The teams of Tom Watson-Andy North, Nick Faldo Eduardo Romero and Craig Stadler-Kirk Triplett had the best rounds there, finishing at 5-under 49 after nine holes of alternate shot and nine of better ball.

In the Legends Division for players 65 and older, Bruce Fleisher and Larry Nelson took the lead with a 62 at Buffalo Ridge. The teams of Jack Nicklaus-Gary Player, Lee Trevino-Mike Hill and Graham Marsh-John Bland shot 1-over 55 on the par-3 course, the site of the final rounds in each division.

“We never seemed to get the right club in our hand,” said Nicklaus, who designed the par-3 course. “All day

long we’re struggling with a club, even on the second nine. … We made two bogeys on the alternate shot because we didn’t have the right clubs.”

Play was delayed twice because of rain and lightning and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls on the Buffalo Ridge course.

Perry and Cochran birdied four of the first five holes and eagled the par-5 eighth – Perry hit a hybrid to 6 feet – in a 6-under 29 on the front nine. The Kentucky duo also birdied No. 10 and closed with three more.

“Kenny came in there and really got things started,” Cochran said. “He just had a terrific front side, especially, and really the whole day. … He made many birdies and an eagle. Never really missed a shot. So as far as I was concerned, I was trying to fill in.”

Funk and Sluman played the first nine in 7-under 28 and added three birdies on the back nine.

“We both played really honestly solid golf all day,” Sluman said. “I think after 12 holes we each contributed like on six holes each, so we were just playing solid golf, hitting it down the middle and giving ourselves two birdie chances every hole.”

Sluman capped the round with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th, their fifth birdie putt of 20 feet for longer. Sluman and Funk each holed 40- and 30-foot birdie putts.

The teams of Jay Haas-Peter Jacobsen and Billy Andrade-Tommy Armour III shot 62 at Buffalo Ridge, and Tom Lehman-Bernhard Langer and Corey Pavin-Duffy Waldorf followed at 63.

Jim Colbert and Jim Thorpe were second in the Legends Division at 66. Butch Baird-Al Geiberger and Hubert Green-Allen Doyle shot 67.

RIDGEDALE, Mo. – Kenny Perry and Russ Cochran teamed to birdie the final three holes for a share of the lead with Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk on Friday in the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf.

The leaders were at 10-under 61 after their better-ball rounds on the Buffalo Ridge course.

“For the most part we hung in there, got the ball in the fairway and had a couple chances most of the time,” Cochran said. “Kenny had the eye and when a guy’s got that, you want to get out of his way.”

In Savannah, Georgia, last year, Sluman teamed with Brad Faxon to win the Champions Division. Sluman turned to Funk after Faxon was unable to play because of previous commitment.

“We’re just really comfortable together, No. 1, but we got off to a really good start and that helped,” Funk said. “We made some really good putts.”

Other players opened at Top of the Rock, the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. The teams of Tom Watson-Andy North, Nick Faldo Eduardo Romero and Craig Stadler-Kirk Triplett had the best rounds there, finishing at 5-under 49 after nine holes of alternate shot and nine of better ball.

In the Legends Division for players 65 and older, Bruce Fleisher and Larry Nelson took the lead with a 62 at Buffalo Ridge. The teams of Jack Nicklaus-Gary Player, Lee Trevino-Mike Hill and Graham Marsh-John Bland shot 1-over 55 on the par-3 course, the site of the final rounds in each division.

“We never seemed to get the right club in our hand,” said Nicklaus, who designed the par-3 course. “All day

long we’re struggling with a club, even on the second nine. … We made two bogeys on the alternate shot because we didn’t have the right clubs.”

Play was delayed twice because of rain and lightning and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls on the Buffalo Ridge course.

Perry and Cochran birdied four of the first five holes and eagled the par-5 eighth – Perry hit a hybrid to 6 feet – in a 6-under 29 on the front nine. The Kentucky duo also birdied No. 10 and closed with three more.

“Kenny came in there and really got things started,” Cochran said. “He just had a terrific front side, especially, and really the whole day. … He made many birdies and an eagle. Never really missed a shot. So as far as I was concerned, I was trying to fill in.”

Funk and Sluman played the first nine in 7-under 28 and added three birdies on the back nine.

“We both played really honestly solid golf all day,” Sluman said. “I think after 12 holes we each contributed like on six holes each, so we were just playing solid golf, hitting it down the middle and giving ourselves two birdie chances every hole.”

Sluman capped the round with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th, their fifth birdie putt of 20 feet for longer. Sluman and Funk each holed 40- and 30-foot birdie putts.

The teams of Jay Haas-Peter Jacobsen and Billy Andrade-Tommy Armour III shot 62 at Buffalo Ridge, and Tom Lehman-Bernhard Langer and Corey Pavin-Duffy Waldorf followed at 63.

Jim Colbert and Jim Thorpe were second in the Legends Division at 66. Butch Baird-Al Geiberger and Hubert Green-Allen Doyle shot 67.

CALGARY—Bernhard Langer, the Charles Schwab Cup points leader on the PGA Tour’s Champions Tour, has confirmed he will tee-it-up at Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club for the 2014 Shaw Charity Classic, August 27-31, 2014.

One of the most successful players in the history of the senior circuit, Langer is currently ranked first in the quest for the Arnold Palmer Award as the Champions Tour’s leading money winner. Langer has finished first on the Champions Tour Money List five times since turning 50 seven years ago. The smooth-swinging German has placed in the top-10 in each of his nine starts in 2014, including two victories and three runner-up finishes. His victory last month in Houston was his 20th career Champions Tour title, making him the 10th player in Tour history, and first since 2001 to hit the milestone.

“There was lots of buzz on Tour about how successful last year’s Shaw Charity Classic was, and I am excited to have the opportunity to make my first trip to Calgary in August,” said Langer, who should fall in love with Alberta being an outdoors enthusiast and self-described “scratch” skier.

“I’m very blessed to have won 20 times out here. It’s been a great and wonderful achievement. I feel like I’m playing some of my best golf in my career so I hope to keep that going throughout the summer.”

The former No. 1 player in the world on the Official World Golf Ranking in 1986 has rattled off 19 straight top-10 finishes dating back to last year. He has also carded 28 of 29 rounds in 2014 under par.

Langer has won three times on the PGA Tour including the 1993 and 1985 Masters Tournament. He also won two senior majors in 2010: Senior Open Championship, and the U.S. Senior Open.

“Bernhard Langer’s name is synonymous with the greatest names in the game so we are thrilled to have him join us in Calgary,” said Sean Van Kesteren, tournament director, Shaw Charity Classic. “When Rocco Mediate hoisted the trophy last August, he was convinced that with the success of our inaugural event – from the condition of the golf course to the thousands of fans that lined the fairways – that all of the guys would be here this summer. It exciting to begin seeing this statement from our Champion hold true.”

Langer is now the third big name on the Champions Tour who has confirmed to make their first appearance at the Calgary event. Earlier this spring, Shaw Charity Classic officials launched its marketing and sales efforts by announcing that last year’s Charles Schwab Cup winner, Kenny Perry, along with 1989 British Open winner, Mark Calcavecchia will headline what promises to be a star-studded field for the second annual event. Perry recently fired into the winner’s circle for the first time in 2014 after winning his third consecutive Champions Tour major by taking the Regions Tradition title.

The inaugural Shaw Charity Classic, which was recognized with an Outstanding Achievement Award for a first year event by the PGA Tour, and a Tourism Calgary White Hat Award for best event/festival/attraction in 2013, made a record-setting charitable donation of $2,276,251 for a Champions Tour event.  The legends of the game will play for a purse of $2.25 million, an increase of $250,000 from last year, when they return to Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club August 27-31, 2014.

Tickets and corporate packages for the Shaw Charity Classic are available online at www.shawcharityclassic.com. Youth 17 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult.

RIDGEDALE, Mo. – Thirty-six years ago, the first Legends of Golf was such a hit that it sparked interest that led to the creation of the senior tour. The Champions Tour event is still breaking ground.

For the first time in a PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament, a par-3 course is being used. The Jack Nicklaus-designed Top of the Rock at Big Cedar Lodge Resort is no ordinary par-3 layout.

“This whole event is going to be spectacular on TV,” said Andy North, paired with Tom Watson. “I think that’s what’s going to be so interesting. Any direction the camera goes is going to be spectacular and we don’t find that very often.”

The Champions division will play 18 holes on the par-3 course Sunday, the first nine under foursomes and the second at fourball. The Legends division for players 65 and older will play nine holes of fourball.

The opening 36 holes for both divisions will consist of a fourball round on the regulation Buffalo Ridge course and two nine-hole rounds (foursomes and fourball) on the par-3 course.

Watson noted the foursomes – or alternate-shot portion – of the format.

“Plus, we’ve got the other thing, the alternate shot,” the Ryder Cup captain said. “That’s never been played officially in any PGA Tour tournament. It is in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, but for official money for the Champions Tour, no, it’s never happened before.”

Nicklaus is teaming with Gary Player in The Legends division.

“I’m kind of interested in the format, really,” Nicklaus said. “I think the format using a par-3 golf course is different, something unique.”

Last year, Jeff Sluman and Brad Faxon teamed to win in Savannah, Georgia, edging Fred Funk-Mike Goodes and Kenny Perry-Gene Sauers by a stroke in fourball play. Sluman is playing alongside Funk this year, with Faxon unable to play because of a prior commitment.

“It will be interesting how this all unfolds,” Funk said. “I think marketing-wise it’s probably a great idea because you’re trying to get the concept where people can come out and play a par-3 golf course, and this is not your normal par-3 golf course.”

Mark Calcavecchia noted that the bags will lighter.

“You leave your woods in the car,” Calcavecchia said. “You just bring your 4-iron through sand wedge and it’s just a different feel. It’s going to be fun, but it’s weird not being able to take your frustration out and bash a driver as hard as you can. It’s like, `Oh, God, another 8-iron or wedge or something.'”