PGA Tour Champions

Constellation Senior Players Championship

July 12-15

Highland Park, Illinois

$2,800,000

July 12-15

Highland Park, Illinois

$2,800,000

Round 1

Kenny Perry and Mike Small take the lead

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

July 12, 2018

Kenny Perry and Mike Small shot 7-under 65s on Thursday to take the lead of the Constellation Senior Players Championship. They each made eight birdies and a bogey.

Perry has four senior majors, two US Senior Opens in 2013 and 2017, a Senior Players Championship in 2013 and the Regions Tradition in 2014, but is coming back from shoulder surgery, suffering from back troubles and recovering from strep throat.

''I actually made some putts today,'' Perry said. ''I've had a tough year this year.''

The surgery on his right shoulder prevented him from playing from November to late April and he has only had one top-10 finish this season.

''I had played seven straight weeks in a row,'' Perry said. ''It was terrible. ... Seven weeks in a row was way too much golf for an old man, so I just said that was not what I needed to do anymore. Last week was horrible. I couldn't do a lot. And then didn't have a lot of expectations coming in here, but I hit the ball nice and finally made a few putts, and that's why I shot a good score.''

Small has never won on the PGA Tour Champions and is not a Tour member. He qualified with strong performances in events where he received sponsors' exemptions. He was T10 at the American Family Insurance Championship last month and T9 at the Principal Charity Classic in early June.

''Well, `{`a victory`}` would be great, but there's a lot of golf to go,'' he said. ''So yeah, that would be awesome. That's what we're here for. Everybody is here to win.''