The players had to battle with the elements in the second round as the rain was persistent, making it a stern test for the field as they head into moving day.
McCarron, 56, an 11-time winner on PGA Tour Champions, has had difficulties with injuries of late and admits that it wasn’t an easy round with the weather conditions changing constantly.
“It was crazy.” He said. “A little cold out there, a little breezy, made it tough to judge some of the shots. But I played the par-3s really well today, five par-3s and I birdied four of them so that was a big part of the round. Then I turned at even, made a nice par on 10 and then I birdied 11, 12, 13, 14, which really got my round going.
“Unfortunately made a par on 15, had a chance to go for it in two and didn’t hit a very good hybrid, but I made a great 5 from where I was on my second shot, and then I made a real nice birdie on 17 to kind of cap out the round.”
Ames the 58-year-old made a double bogey on the par three fourth hole but redeemed himself posting six birdies on the remaining holes despite the worsening conditions.
“It’s gratifying, obviously. Yeah, without a doubt. The things I work on with the psychologist at this stage right now of my career, it’s always about the mental part, not the physical part. That’s what we try to get out. Just to try to get out of our own way, basically.
“It’s cold. Not my cup of tea, literally. I’m not a fan of the cold weather even though I lived in Canada. But I never went out and played golf in this. You’ve got to deal with the elements, and again, that’s always a mental challenge, so it’s something that I’ve been working on, as well, but we all do as individuals. That was my goal today was to battle that out.”
Four players share tied third position on six under par including 11-time Senior Major Champion Bernhard Langer and 2003 Masters winner Mike Weir. A shot back on five under par consists of five players including 28-time European Tour champion Ernie Els and 2021 KitchenAid winner Alex Cejka.
McCarron and Ames will tee it up alongside Brian Gay of the United States at 11:35am local time on moving day.
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