BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Mark Calcavecchia made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Jay Haas after the second round of the Regions Tradition at Shoal Creek.
Calcavecchia shot his second straight 3-under 69 to reach 6-under 138, while Haas missed a 4-foot putt on the 18th to finish with a 70.
"Sixty-nine sounds better than 70, it always has," said Calcavecchia, who is seeking his first Champions Tour title in two years..
"It always feels good to birdie the last hole. Leading as opposed to being tied for the lead, that makes no difference whatsoever to me."
He aggravated a rib problem late in Thursday's round and had upper back spasms. Calcavecchia said it began flaring up again starting on No. 14 Friday.
Kenny Perry and Olin Browne were 4 under. Perry had a 68, and Browne shot 71. Browne was part of the four-way tie for the lead after the first round along with Calcavecchia, Haas and Chien Soon Lu, who shot a 77.
Haas birdied the first four holes, and Calcavecchia had three birdies on the first six holes.
"I didn't put myself into a lot of bad positions," Haas said. "Being 4 under after four was kind of a dream start and it kind of slowly got away from me. But I like my position. I feel pretty good about my situation going into the weekend."
Calcavecchia said he started his round knowing Haas had gotten off to a good start and that Tom Pernice Jr. -- who finished with a 70 and was four strokes back -- had also opened with four straight birdies. Beyond that, he said he's not a scoreboard watcher.
"There's no point in really looking at this stage," Calcavecchia said. "You're just trying to play the course and make as many birdies as possible and pars. Still a long way to go. If it was a three-rounder like most of our regular tournaments, it would be a little different story maybe. But we're only halfway done."
Haas takes a different approach.
"I look at scoreboards all the time," he said. "I like seeing my name up there and seeing what's going on and all that. It's such a long race and there's so much golf left to be played that I'm not too concerned about one shot here and there. You hate to throw any shots away obviously, but I'm still feeling pretty good about where I am."
Defending champion David Frost was five strokes back and two-time winner Tom Lehman was six away from the lead. Both had 71s.
Fred Couples was 7 over after a 77.
