Langer ahead by 3 at ACE Group Classic

Naples, FL – Bernhard Langer fired a 10-under 62 on Friday to grab a 3-stroke lead after one round of the ACE Group Classic.

Langer, who won this tournament in 2011, highlighted his bogey-free round with a hole-out eagle on No. 10 at the Club at TwinEagles' Talon Course.

"Just heard a lot of noise when it hit the flag and cup," said Langer, who hit a 9-iron from 141 yards. "Sometimes they bounce out and go all over the place, but this one stayed in, so that was nice."

Bob Tway birdied his final hole and grabbed the early clubhouse lead with a 65 before falling into second place courtesy of Langer's charge.

Tom Pernice Jr., Jay Don Blake and John Huston all carded 66 to share third place, while Fred Funk, Mark O'Meara, Mark Wiebe and Chien Soon Lu sit a shot back.

Kenny Perry, who defeated Langer by five strokes at this event last year, shot 68 on Friday. He shares 10th place with nine others, including two-time ACE Group Classic champion Loren Roberts.

Rocco Mediate, a winner in his Champions Tour debut last week at the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, sits at even-par.

Langer began his round with four consecutive pars before unfurling a scintillating, lead-stealing run. The 16-time Champions Tour winner tallied consecutive birdies starting at the fifth and picked up another shot at the eighth to make the turn at 3-under.

As Tway was wrapping up his 65, Langer began his assault on the Talon Course's back nine. He started with an eagle on the par-4 10th and followed with a birdie on No. 11. Then, after a par, Langer reeled off four straight birdies beginning at No. 13 -- a stretch which vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard.

Langer passed Tway on the par-4 14th, then extended the lead by picking up shots on Nos. 15 and 16. He closed with consecutive pars and the outright advantage.

"It was just a matter of being patient, and it can happen in golf," Langer said of his strong closing run.

Tway's early lead came courtesy of his own furious finish. Starting his round on the 10th tee, the eight-time PGA Tour victor made one birdie against eight pars during his outward nine. He then opened his inward stretch with a bogey before rebounding with an eagle on the par-5 third and closing with five birdies in his last six holes to reach minus-7.

NOTES: Roberts won this event in 2006 and 2009 ... John Cook, who captured the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii, shot 71 ... Andy Bean withdrew on Friday ... Last year, Perry fired rounds of 64-62-70 to earn the 5-shot win ... This year's tournament marks the 26th anniversary of a Champions Tour event in Naples. On the current schedule, only the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, Texas, has been played longer in the same city (28 years).