Rocco Mediate stretches his Senior PGA Championship lead at Harbor Shores

Rocco Mediate stretched his Senior PGA Championship lead to four strokes Friday at Harbor Shores, birdieing the final two holes for a 5-under 66.

"I haven't been here in a long time," Mediate said. "I'm looking forward to trying to drive it in the first fairway and see what happens from there.

"That's all you can really do. They're going to be coming and it's going to be fun. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's nervy. It's cool."

Mediate had a 14-under 128 total, four strokes better than the previous tournament record set by Sam Snead in 1973 and matched by Arnold Palmer in 1984 and Jack Nicklaus in 1991.

The 53-year-old Mediate opened with a 62 on Thursday to tie the tournament and course records set by Kenny Perry in the 2012 final round on the Nicklaus-designed layout.

"I love it. This place, it's just evil. In a good way," said Mediate, bogey-free through 36 holes. "It's just a great place. It really shows you the control you have. That's why Jack built these greens, I'm sure he said, 'Well, let's see how good these guys are?'"

On Friday, Mediate started play on the 10th tee and birdied the par-4 16th and 18th. He added birdies on the par-5 fifth, par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth, leaving an eagle putt an inch short on the last.

Mediate has one-putted 22 of his 36 holes, finishing with 22 putts Thursday and 26 on Friday. He won both of his PGA Tour Champions victories in 2013 after winning six times on the PGA Tour.

Gene Sauers was second, closing with a bogey for a 69. The three-time PGA Tour winner has successfully fought a rare skin condition, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, to play the 50-and-over tour.

Bernhard Langer birdied three of his last four holes in a 64 to reach 9 under in his bid to become the first player to win all five PGA Tour Champions majors.

The 58-year-old German won the Regions Tradition last week in Alabama for his sixth senior major title and 100th worldwide victory. In Alabama, Langer joined Nicklaus as the only players to win four different senior majors. Nicklaus had largely retired when the Senior British Open was added to the major rotation. He only played that once in its first year as a major in 2003.

Mediate played alongside two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie and Perry. Montgomerie had a 66 to join Langer in the third-place tie at 9 under. The Scot won in 2014 at Harbor Shores and last year at French Lick Resort in Indiana.

Perry had a 71 to drop eight strokes back at 6 under. He had the first double eagle in the history of the event, holing out with a 5-iron from 227 yards on the par-5 fifth hole. He eagled the hole Thursday.