• Lance Ten Broeck, making only the fifth start of his Champions Tour career, forged a two-under-par 68 at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in the afternoon and finds himself one stroke ahead of 62-year-old Tom Kite, the first-round leader, after two rounds of the 33rd U.S. Senior Open Championship. Ten Broeck started on the back nine and rebounded from a bogey at No. 14 with an eagle on the following hole, sinking a 10-foot putt after a 240-yard second shot with a 3-wood. The journeyman from Chicago, who in recent years has been a caddie for several PGA TOUR players, played his second nine in one-under to post the 6-under cumulative total. Starting at the 10th tee, Kite reached 9-under for the tournament after a birdie at No. 18, but he dropped four strokes on his second nine, including a bogey on the last hole of the day to drop out of the lead.
Lance Ten Broeck (66-68--134/-6)
• Bidding to become the third non-exempt player to claim a major on the Champions Tour (Roger Chapman/Senior PGA Championship, Joe Daley/Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship).
• Was one of 16 sectional qualifers to make the cut and is the first sectional qualifier to lead since amateur Tim Jackson was ahead after two rounds of the 2009 U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.
• Was never a solo leader after two round in his PGA TOUR career. Held a share of the 36-hole lead at the 1982 Hall of Fame Classic at Pinehurst, N.C. and eventually finished T12, the only time he was a co-leader in his TOUR career. Best finish in an official event was 2nd at the 1991 Chattanooga Classic. Also won the unofficial Magnolia Classic in 1984.
• Best finish in four previous starts on the Champions Tour was a T29 at the 2010 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
• Played in the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills but missed the cut.
Miscellaneous Notes:
• Jay Don Blake had the low round of the day, posting a 5-under-par 65 to jump from T74 (+3) to a T12 (-2). Blake improved by 10 strokes on his opening nine shooting 6-under 29 on the front side at Indianwood today. His 29 included a run of five consecutive birdies (Nos. 5-9). Blake is the sixth player to post five straight birdies in a round at a U.S. Senior Open and the first to do so since Russ Cochran had five birdies in a row in the final round last year at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
• Just one of the previous three majors on the 2012 Champions Tour has been won by a 36-hole leader/co-leader and that was by England's Roger Chapman at the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor Mich. In his return to the Great Lakes State, Chapman finds himself just two strokes off the 36-hole lead this week at Indianwood.
• The last two 36-hole leaders at the U.S. Senior Open went on to win. In 2010 at Sahalee, Bernhard Langer was at 3-under 137 after two rounds and led Tommy Armour III, John Cook and Jeff Roth by two strokes. Last year at Inverness Club, Olin Browne went wire-to-wire for his victory. He was at 9-under 133 after 36 holes and led Mark O'Meara by one stroke.
• Tom Kite, age 62, is just one stroke off the 36-hole lead after the second round of this year's U.S. Senior Open. Here's a list of the oldest players to win senior majors in history :
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• Allen Doyle is the oldest winner of the U.S. Senior Open, claiming the 2006 event at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio at 57 years, 11 months and 17 days.
• A total of 66 players (64 professionals, 2 amateurs) from a starting field of 156 made the cut (low-60 and ties) at 4-over-par 144. Last year at Inverness Club, 60 players made the cut (59 professionals, 1 amateur) at 2-over-par 144.
• Five past champions made the cut including Dave Eichelberger, 68, the 1999 U.S. Senior Open champion who made it on the number. Others making it to the weekend include: Olin Browne, the defending champion (+3), Bernhard Langer, the 2010 winner (-4), Fred Funk, the 2009 champion (-2), Brad Bryant (-2), the 2007 champion, and Peter Jacobsen (E), the 2004 champion. Among those missing this year's cut were four former U.S. Senior Open champions: Hale Irwin (1998, 2000), Eduardo Romero (2008), Allen Doyle (2005, 2006) and Graham Marsh(1997).
• Field scoring averages through 36 Holes of the U.S. Senior Open since 1998:
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• Through two rounds at Indianwood Golf & Country Club, the par-4 12th hole has played the hardest (4.500) with only 27 birdies made on the hole.
• Five of the top-eight names on the 36-hole U.S. Senior Open leaderboard this year have won a major championship on either the PGA TOUR, the Champions Tour or both.
