Peter Koutroumpis (@pksport)
CARY, NC – One could say that you could ‘blame it on the rain’ for the shakeup that took place on the 2026 SAS Championship leaderboard following second-round play at Prestonwood Country Club on Saturday.
Following 36 holes of play, Timothy O’Neal, Vijay Singh, and Freddie Jacobson all sat on top, all at 6-under par, following a wet and cold day of play that was in stark contrast to Friday’s balmy opening round.
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Leaderboard: 2026 SAS Championship
Tee Times: Split tees – Hole 1 / Hole 10
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“Yeah, probably the coldest conditions we’ve had all year,” O’Neal said afterwards.
“Yesterday was perfect, and then today we had hand warmers today. A lot of different clubs into different holes today than we did yesterday. Tough, windy, cold, raining. Yeah, it was a very tough day, but I was lucky to finish the way I did.”
180-degree turnaround
After posting an impressive seven-under par 65 to lead following Round 1, Retief Goosen gave that all back on Saturday, struggling to finish seven-over par (79), not making any birdies or better throughout his round.
Though some like Goosen dropped back into the fray of the field, others grasped and rode the wind, gusting up to 25 miles per hour, behind them, rather than succumbing headlong into it.
Y.E. Yang (T29) carded the low round of the day by three strokes (65), beating the second-round average (74.159) by more than nine strokes.
Productive play under adverse conditions
O’Neal, Singh, and Jacobson played to four, three, and two-under respectively on the day, and put themselve in position to vye for their first SAS Championship title.
For Singh, the closest he’s gotten to raising the crystal at Prestonwood in nine appearance includes three top-10 finishes – T2 (2017), 3rd (2020), and T5 (2023).
“I played pretty solid. I drove the ball well when I needed to,” the 63-year old World Golf Hall of Famer said about his round.
“It was a really tough day. I mean, I don’t like cold, and in the beginning when we started off it was cold, wind and rain, but I managed. My caddie did a good job, he kept me in there and telling me to focus, focus, focus, and that’s what you need in conditions like this.”
Jacobson has added motivation to capture a win on Sunday.
A victory at the SAS would snap a winless streak of 5,593 days (or 15 years, 3 months, 22 days) on PGA Tour-sanctioned Tours dating back to the 2011 Travelers Championship.
“I was in the fairway lots, and managed to control the irons pretty well,” Jacobson said.
“I think I hit quite a lot of greens. Didn’t make as many putts as I wanted out there, I only had one one-putt on the greens in regulation, but scrambled OK from off the green a couple of times. Yeah, overall really happy with how I gave myself a good chance for a good score today.”
Looking ahead to Sunday Best
Making his fourth appearance at the SAS Championship, the 54-year old O’Neal has finished T27 (2023), T17 (2024) and T4 (2025) previously here.
In leading/co-leading heading into Sunday, his plan will be to more or less, ‘stay the course’.
“Well, for me it’s all about patience, one shot at a time,” O’Neal noted.
“Then just try to make some putts, that’s pretty much it. I guess I’m T-1 right now, but we’ll see. But tomorrow, same thing, just try to stay patient. It’s going to be cold again, so just try to hit a lot of greens and try to make some putts here and there.”
The youngest of the trio at 52 years old, Jacobson, making his debut appearance at the SAS, hopes to notch that first win on PGA Tour Champions in 43 starts.
It would be even more meaningful to do so having his son on his bag.
“It would mean a lot. I think I really feel like I played consistent over the last couple of years,” Jacobson noted.
“I’ve been in contention quite a lot. I haven’t really been carrying a big lead into Sundays or anything like that, but being in the mix, I think for anybody out here to win, it shifts. You get that kind of confidence and feel — it’s sometimes too long between the wins.
For some guys, it’s not, it can be every other week it seems like. But for a lot of us, I mean, years go by in between wins. I think once you know that once you get them, you just get that feel and that boost that you feel a little more comfortable the next time when you go down the stretch. I mean, if you haven’t won for a while, you’re just battling some nerves, and not having been there for a while and to break through and get it done always means a lot. So I would love to get it done.”
Notables
O’Neal seeks his second win on PGA Tour Champions (104th start). His previous win came at the 2024 Dominion Energy Charity Classic. Making his 25th start of the 2026 season, he has four top-10 finishes, and entered the week ranked No. 27 in the 2026 Charles Schwab Cup standings…Making his 19th start of the 2026 season, Jacobson has eight top-10 finishes. Entered the week ranked No. 20 in the 2026 Charles Schwab Cup standings…Chad Campbell and Søren Kjeldsen, both seeking their first win on PGA Tour Champions, each sit T4 at 5- under entering the final round.
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Broadcast Schedule (ET)
Sunday: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. (Golf Channel)
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