AVONDALE, La. (AP) -It's the older, wiser Mark Calcavecchia we're seeing on the leader board these days.
But don't call him more mature.
"No. I'll never mature," Calcavecchia said after taking a one-shot lead midway through the Zurich Classic. "I'll be a kid until I'm dead."
If Calcavecchia can hold off a handful of challengers, most of whom really were kids when he won the British Open in 1989, he'll have his second PGA triumph since last month, when he won the PODS Championship in Houston for his 13th Tour title.
Entering Saturday's third round, the 47-year-old stood at 9 under, one shot ahead of Lucas Glover and Nick Watney.
Watney, 25, who's never won a PGA event pulled into a tie for second with 5-under 67 on Friday.
"If I can keep playing pretty steady, I definitely think I have a chance," Watney said. "There's still a long way to go. ... I've just got to keep doing the same thing."
Kyle Reifers, whose opening round 64 set a new course record at the TPC Louisiana, struggled early in Friday's second round and saw his two-shot lead over Calcavecchia turn into a two-shot deficit.
Calcavecchia was on the PGA Tour before Reifers was born.
They both put themselves in some tough spots during the second round, but the seasoned pro handled it better than the tour rookie.
"It's a miracle I don't have any bogeys yet, considering the places I hit it," Calcavecchia said. "I shot the lowest score humanly possible today, considering the places I was."
Calcavecchia made what he termed "miraculous pars" with one-putts of about 11 and 8 feet on the sixth and eighth holes. Both putts came after he had hit into bunkers with difficult uphill lies.
On No. 15, his approach shot went over the green, then his chip about 9 feet past the pin. He putted in from there to save par. On the par-3 17th, he needed two shots to hit the green, then made par again with a 10-footer. He finished with a crowd pleasing 29-foot birdie put to end his round on No. 18, holding his club in the air as the ball dropped.
