Last year’s version of this event came down to the challenging, confounding 18th hole at Omni Tucson National Resort.

If Saturday is any indication, this year’s will too.

Tommy Tolles leads the Cologuard Classic through two rounds at 11 under par. He holds a one-shot lead over Steve Stricker and Scott Dunlap.

That was not the case when the three PGA Tour Champions pros stood at the tee on No. 18.

Tolles and Stricker were tied for the lead at 12 under. Dunlap trailed by two. But as often happens on 18 if you pick the wrong line or hook the ball even a little bit, Stricker and Tolles hit their drives through the fairway into the left water hazard.

Tolles ended up with a bogey, Stricker a double. Dunlap, who found the fairway, made par – which is always a good score on one of the Champions Tour’s most difficult holes.

“Always has been, always will be, no doubt,” said Dunlap, who shot a 2-under 71. “I hit a good tee ball, got out of dodge. My day was pretty inconsistent, but I didn’t shoot myself in the foot.”

Dunlap saved par on 17 despite airmailing his third shot into the bunker behind the green. Stricker also made par, but it wasn’t what he had in mind after reaching the green on the par-5 hole in two.

“Three-putting 17 for par and then doubling 18 doesn’t sit so well with me right now,” said Stricker, who made seven birdies and two doubles for a second-round 70. “But I’m still in a good spot heading into tomorrow, so got to look at the bright side and try to get a good night’s sleep – try to come out tomorrow and not make any mistakes.”

Tolles grunted as if he had made an error off the tee at 17. He took an extremely aggressive line with a driver over the lake that abuts the fairway, and it paid off. The shot cleared the water, scooted through the trees and came to rest about 150 yards shy of the green.

“It says 286 (yards) in the book, but it’s downhill, downwind, so it’s probably realistically a 265 carry,” said Tolles, who matched Stricker with a 3-under 70. “The only thing is, if you try and go over the lake, you have to avoid the trees. As I was passing by the marshal there I said, ‘How close did it come to hitting the stump?’ He said, ‘Closer than you think.’ ”

Tolles’ good fortune led to a birdie and a stroke gained on his playing partners. He caught a break on the par-5 12th hole as well. Tolles hooked his second shot well left of the green.

“We don’t like to think there’s a lot of luck in this game,” he said. “But in that case, when you hit a really bad shot … it ended up in a spot where I had a tree in front of me. But it wasn’t in play, and I drew a fairly decent lie and comfortable number. So I was lucky.”

Tolles made birdie at 12. He hung around despite a disappointing performance on the greens and is in position to win for the first time on the Champions Tour. He never won an event on the PGA Tour either. Between the two, that’s 240 starts.

Tolles is trying not to think about it that way.

“Tomorrow is just another day,” said Tolles, who gained exempt status for the 2018 season after finishing second at the PGA Tour Champions Q School event late last year. “You can’t really play any hole like it’s more important than the previous one.

“When I play the first hole, I’m going to hit it just like I did on Thursday (in the pro-am). Second hole, just like I did on Thursday. Until they tell me I can’t play anymore.”

Stricker, who has won 12 times on the PGA Tour, is seeking his first Champions Tour victory. He finished second in his tour debut here last year, losing to Tom Lehman by one stroke. Lehman parred the 18th hole in the final round; Stricker, playing in the same group, found the water and made bogey.

No. 18 has been by far the toughest hole through two rounds this year. The average score on the par-4 is 4.448. On Saturday, the average was 4.468. The hole yielded four birdies, 24 bogeys and eight doubles in Round 2.

The three players who are tied for fourth at 9 under par – Rocco Mediate, Doug Garwood and Gene Sauers – all made par on 18. Mediate, who began Saturday seven shots off the lead, had the low round of the day – an 8-under 65.

“All I want to do is have a chance,” Mediate said. “Out here, if you have a round like I did yesterday – which is mediocre at best, 1 under – you have to have something stupid to win the week, to get back in it. Today was that day.”

Garwood made five consecutive birdies on holes 5-9.

Round 1

Remember Tommy Tolles?

You’re forgiven if you don’t.

The co-leader after the first round of the Cologuard Classic recorded three consecutive top-five finishes at PGA Tour majors in 1996 and ’97. He played regularly on the tour for another six years. Then he basically fell off the golfing grid.

Tolles last played in a PGA Tour event in 2005. He has played in nine PGA Tour Champions events since last year, including Q School. He was a surprised as anyone that he finished second in the event at TPC Scottsdale, earning exempt status for the 2018 season.

“Nobody expected the likes of me to qualify,” Tolles said.

More: New name just one of a handful of changes at PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic in Tucson

Equally unexpected: Tolles’ 8-under 65 Friday. He had four birdies on each nine and didn’t make a bogey.

“I haven’t played a lot of competitive golf the last 10 years, so it was kind of a learning experience,” said Tolles, who spent much of that time running a landscaping business in North Carolina.

“But it’s fun. I’ve never lost the love for the game. I guess I kind of lost a little bit of my competitive edge. Maybe it’s starting to come around; maybe it’s not. I don’t know.”

Tolles is tied with Scott Dunlap, another surprise name on the first page of the leaderboard. Dunlap has earned more than $4 million on the PGA Tour Champions over the past five years. But he rarely has played well at Omni Tucson National Resort, dating to his college days at Florida. Over the past three years here, Dunlap’s best finish is a tie for 28th.

Before Friday, extensive experience at the course hadn’t helped him.

“Therein lies the problem – it’s completely and utterly unchanged,” Dunlap said. “If it suits you, that’s great. If it doesn’t suit you, you’re kind of in a world of hurt.

“I don’t ever seem to make many putts out here, and today I did. I’ve always liked the golf course and expect to play well. Today was more like it.”

Dunlap will play in the final group Saturday with Tolles and Steve Stricker, who’s seeking his first Champions Tour victory after making his debut here last year. Stricker, who has won 12 times on the PGA Tour, has come oh, so close, finishing in the top three five times in seven Champions Tour starts. He’s one shot behind the leaders.

Stricker came oh, so close to playing with his friend and former University of Illinois teammate Mike Small, who also shot a 7-under 66. Tolles’ birdie on No. 18 bumped Small to the second-to-last pairing.

Small has been the men’s golf coach at Illinois since 2001. He plays only a handful of Champions Tour events a year. Being a coach doesn’t necessarily help him as a player.

“It’s a hindrance a little bit because I evaluate people all day long,” said Small, who’s competing on a sponsor’s exemption. “I evaluate my team, I evaluate recruits, I evaluate my lineup, I watch the guys, I work with them. And the last thing you can do when you’re out here playing is to evaluate yourself.

“I have a tendency to evaluate myself, so I need to just dispose of things and get them out of there. Good or bad, get them out and move on to the next shot. That’s what I did today.”

The gallery at the 18th hole welcomed Small with a familiar chant: “I-L-L … I-N-I!” He responded with a birdie, the fourth on his front nine.

Stricker made par on 18, and he was satisfied with that result. He bogeyed the hole in the final round last year, when he finished second … by one stroke.

Stricker eagled No. 2 and made five subsequent birdies. He didn’t have a bogey. About the only thing that didn’t go right was missing out on the chance to play with Small.

“He’s a good guy,” Stricker said. “He still plays great golf, and he embodies everything a professional golfer and a good person should be. So it’s cool to see him playing well.”

Four other players were within three shots of the lead entering Saturday. Gene Sauers sat alone in fifth place at 6-under 67. Billy Mayfair, 2016 Tucson champion Woody Austin and seven-time PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year Bernhard Langer were tied for sixth after shooting 5-under 68s.

Langer punctuated his round by making a 60-foot birdie putt on 18. After the ball curled into the cup, Langer spiked his visor and bowed to the crowd.

Mayfair wasn’t so lucky. He had a chance to be the leader in the clubhouse but hit his drive on 18 through the fairway into the left water hazard. The Scottsdale resident and Arizona State product ended an otherwise splendid day with a double bogey.

Chip shots

Langer has shot 37 consecutive rounds of par or better, one shy of the all-time Champions Tour record.

No. 18 was the most difficult hole of the day. The scoring average on the 469-yard par-4 was 4.429. It yielded only seven birdies.

Paul Broadhurst made a hole-in-one on No. 14.

David Toms had recorded 13 consecutive rounds in the 60s before shooting an even-par 73 Friday.

Colin Mongtomerie was disqualified after failing to sign his scorecard. He had a quadruple-bogey eight on 18 to finish at 5-over 78.

John Daly shot a field-worst 7-over 80.