David Toms' Fires 9-Under 63 in Second Round of Chubb Classic to Open 3-Stroke Lead
By Doug Milne
NAPLES, Fla. - With a desire for the 2026 Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO title intensifying by the day, the second-round intensity set the stage for a dramatic Sunday finish at Tiburón Golf Club.
Highlighted by four consecutive birdies on Nos. 4-7, and three straight on 11-13, David Toms added birdies at Nos. 16 and 18 to finish at 9-under 63. Combined with his first-round 67, he will take a 3-stroke lead into the final round at 14-under 130.
“It's one of those things that, especially out here on our TOUR with the three rounds, you really have to play well every day. You can't back into anything,” Toms said. “I'll have to go out and play really good golf again. I'm sure there is somebody that's four, five shots back that will play a similar round like I did today. So, you got to go out there and make it happen when you can. That will be the game plan.”
One of the game’s most accurate drivers, Toms remained true to form in round two, hitting all 14 fairways. He missed only one green in regulation.
“Anytime you make nine birdies, you obviously rolled the ball well,” Toms said. “That was the key today. Speed was good on the greens. Once you don't really have to think about the speed, if you can just think about the line…the speed comes naturally. That's the way I putted today and it worked really well.”
In nine previous Chubb Classic starts, Toms has finished inside the top 10 on five occasions. The LSU Tiger’s closest brush with victory, T2, came in 2018.
In 2018, Toms claimed his first of four PGA TOUR Champions crowns at the U.S. Senior Open. His most recent win came at the 2023 Cologuard Classic. Between 1997 and 2011, Toms won 13 titles on the PGA TOUR.
First-round co-leader Michael Wright stands at 11-under par after two rounds, three strokes back of Toms. His youngest son Charlie is on caddie duty this week – a first for the duo on the PGA TOUR Champions.
“Charlie’s reads are still spot on,” said Wright. “He even said to me coming off 18 that I need to hit it on the line he gives me. I didn't start a couple on the correct line, and you can't make them if you're not executing on the line that we picked. So, hopefully tomorrow we'll get them on the right line. I'm confident he'll continue to make good reads.”
Following last year’s T12 finish in his first Chubb Classic start, the Aussie went on to secure six top-10 finishes in his second season on the PGA TOUR Champions.
Wright will celebrate his 52nd birthday next week.
In his bid to become the fourth player to successfully defend his Chubb Classic title, and first since Bernhard Langer in 2022-23, Justin Leonard followed an opening-round 6-under 66 with 4-under 68 Saturday. The Texas Longhorn will head into Sunday’s final round T3 at 10-under.
In the season’s first event last month, Leonard finished T28 in Hawaii at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
In spite of finding only eight of 14 fairways off the tee, Ricardo Gonzalez managed a 4-under 68 in Saturday’s second round. Combined with his opening-round 6-under 66, the 56-year-old Argentinian sits at 10-under.
Gonzalez seeks a second career win on the PGA TOUR Champions and first since the 2024 Trophy Hassan II.
Highlighted by four birdies and an eagle on his outgoing nine, good for a 6-under 29, lefty Steve Flesch offset bogeys at Nos. 13 and 15 with an eagle-3 at the last.
Following his opening round 69, Flesch will begin the final round five strokes back at 9-under 135.
A four-time winner on the Champions Tour, Flesch seeks his first title since the 2023 Ascension Charity Classic.
As he prepares for a defense of his 2025 James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational in two weeks, Argentina’s Angel Cabrera improved on an opening-round 68 with a 5-under 67 in round two. At 9-under 135, he will begin Sunday’s final round just five strokes back.
Following last year’s win at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, his first PGA TOUR Champions title, he went on to win a pair of senior majors, the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship.
In his only other start this season, the 2007 U.S. Open and 2009 Masters champion posted a second-round 10-under 62 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hawaii en route to runner-up honors.
18-hole co-leader, Darren Clarke, struggled in round two, signing for a 4-over 76 and settling in at 3-under 141.
Making his PGA TOUR Champions debut this week, local resident George McNeill opened with rounds of 70-69 and will begin Sunday’s final round at 5-under 139.
