Brad Bryant’s steady round keeps him a stroke in front of Fred Funk at the Tradition.

Brad Bryant maintains lead at the Tradition

SUNRIVER, Ore. — Brad Bryant had a one-stroke lead over defending champion Fred Funk after the first two rounds of the Jeld-Wen Tradition at Crosswater Golf Club.

Bryant was steady Friday with an even-par 72 that gave him a 10-under 134 in the fourth of five majors on the Champions Tour this year.

Funk shot 67 to reach 9 under through two rounds, while Loren Roberts, John Cook and Larry Mize were in a group another shot back entering the third round.

Bryant built a big lead with a first-round 62 that matched the tournament record. Tom Watson shot 62 in the second row in 2003, when the tournament was played in Aloha, Ore., and Doug Tewell had a final-round 62 in 2001, when the event was held in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Bryant’s two-birdie, two-bogey second round was just enough to hold the lead entering the weekend. His best finish this year was fourth at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in June.

He has four overall tour victories, his last coming at the Senior U.S. Open in 2007.

Funk was coming off a victory at the U.S. Senior Open, where he became the first player in a USGA championship to finish 20 under par. A week earlier, he lost in a three-way playoff at the Senior British Open.

Funk has finished in the top 10 in the previous three Champions Tour majors this season and leads the Charles Schwab Cup points standings.

Roberts won the Tradition in 2005 and has won twice on the tour this year, including the Senior British Open. The eight-time winner on the PGA Tour recovered after a double-bogey on the par-4 eighth hole to shoot 71 on Friday.

“It’s an attitude thing, it’s a confidence thing,” Roberts said. “If you have confidence in your game, you can get over it.”

Watson wasn’t so lucky. After two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine, he fell off the leaderboard and finished with a 74 to put him 3 under entering the weekend.

He nonetheless had one of the biggest galleries on the 7,533-yard course built in the shadow of Mr. Bachelor. Watson has said this week that he’s encountered many well-wishers in the past month, after losing in a playoff to Stewart Cink at the British Open.

Watson won the Tradition in 2003.

Cook, who has struggled on the Champions Tour since winning last year’s AT&T Championship, shot a 67, as did Mize, who just joined the tour last year.

“No bogeys for me, and that’s always a good thing,” Cook said.

After temperatures nearly hit 100 on Thursday, a cooling trend expected to continue through the weekend brought highs into the mid-80s.

Last year, Funk shot a final-round 69 for a three-shot victory over Mike Goodes and his first win in a major on the tour. The final round was delayed by thunderstorms.

The Tradition started at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale in 1989 before moving to Superstition Mountain for a year in 2002. With the help of Oregon native Peter Jacobsen, the event moved again in 2003 to the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club west of Portland, and in 2007 came to Crosswater.