KAHUKU — On a rare day when Turtle Bay's Palmer Course lay down for an entire golf tour, Fred Funk did not.

With the wind only a whisper, Funk's golf game spoke volumes. He took a two-shot lead into Saturday's second round of the Turtle Bay Championship and came out three ahead of Kiyoshi Murota and four up on Tom Kite after shooting an 8-under-par 64.

Funk is at 15-under 129 going into Sunday's final round of the Champions Tour's first full-field event. He shattered the 36-hole record at Turtle Bay and the hopes of about 75 golfers with his second straight bogey-free day.

To put his score into perspective, Loren Roberts won with 12-under last year. Murota and Kite are the only players within seven shots of Funk, who might have to go into a funk to fall.

He disagrees. "I think I need to shoot a 67 or 66 ...," Funk said. "I always look at birdies as deposits in the bank. You can never have too many because you are always going to have withdrawals. So far I haven't had any withdrawals, but it would be nice to just keep making deposits in the bank and make those guys try things they wouldn't normally do, and make a mistake and then I can just cruise."

The nearly bilingual Murota has two words for Funk: "So good." Murota, like Hawai'i's David Ishii, is here on a sponsor's exemption. Both play the Japan Golf Tour Organization, where Ishii won 14 times and Murota six. Both celebrate their 52nd birthday July 26 and made their senior debuts here a year ago, before their annual pilgrammage to the Hawai'i Pearl Open, which both have won.

Ishii, who was 29th here last year, shares 12th going into the final round. He shot 70 Saturday, after birdieing three of the first five holes.

Murota, 17th last year, played the front nine in 5-under and finished with a 7-under 65. His first bogey of the tournament came on the 13th. He neutralized that by sending a sand wedge within 2 feet on the next hole. He nearly holed out from a fairway bunker for birdie on the 17th, then barely missed an eagle putt at 18 to grab second to himself.

Murota's most compelling worry in the final round might not be Funk, but what to do if he finishes in the top 10 and qualifies for the $1.6 million Allianz Championship in Florida the same week as the $80,000 Hawai'i Pearl Open (Feb. 9 to 11).

"I'm going to have to think about that," Murota said, slapping his head.

It might be best not to think about Funk. He is the only player here without a bogey and a win Sunday would be his second in five senior starts. He plans to play full-time on the regular tour this year, and for as long as he stays competitive.

The seniors will be happy to see him go away for a while. Known for his uncanny accuracy getting to the green, Funk is finding a new way to win this week as he works on his swing and looks for the answer to the "power leak" that has taken 15 yards off his drives. He is still second in fairways hit (86 percent) and eighth in greens in regulation (81 percent), but he leads the field in putts, averaging just 25.

Funk, 50, attributes it to widening his stance, which squares up his feet and allows the putter to travel lower.

"It's frustrating because normally I'm a much better ball-striker than what I'm showing right now," Funk said. "But I'd trade it all for this putter. I just love to putt like this."

Of his eight birdie putts yesterday, one came from 40 feet and another 25. Five others were in the 8- to 15-foot range.

"From what everybody is saying, he's making some bombs," said Kite, who was second to Hale Irwin at last week's MasterCard Championship at Hualalai. "Those 35-footers don't always have to go in. I expect him to shoot well and Murota played a fine round of golf today. It's going to be a shootout. I anticipate one or more of the three of us going fairly low tomorrow. If it's Fred, he runs away with the thing. But, you know, you don't have to make all those putts."

Kite played Hualalai in 18-under, and lost by five. He is 11-under here, four back and starting to wonder what it takes. He is hoping the wind will return to its Turtle Bay haunts for the final round.

"You don't anticipate the winds laying down here," Kite said. "I'm hopeful there will be a little bit of wind. Anything in excess of 20 mph is wonderful as far as I'm concerned."

NOTES

Moanalua sophomore Tadd Fujikawa was meeting and greeting the Champions Tour with The Golf Channel's Mark Rolfing Saturday. Fujikawa did some commentary with Rolfing and Frank Nobilo before walking the final few holes with David Ishii and going back on TV as an on-course announcer at the 18th.

There were 32 rounds in the 60s Saturday — 19 more than Friday. More than half the field (54) broke par as the Palmer played to an average of 70.064 — 2 1/2 shots easier than in the first round.

Former Kailua resident Scott Simpson had a 69 and is tied for 20th at 139. It is the first time in five 2007 rounds that Simpson did not shoot 70.

Hawai'i's Dave Eichelberger is at 73—147. ... Vicente Fernandez shared low-round honors with Fred Funk and climbed from 26th to fourth.

Hale Irwin shot 67 with a birdie-3 at the seventh. Irwin took eight there Friday.

Denny Hepler, who earned a spot here by winning the "Big Break" reality show, rallied with a second-round 71.

Gary Player matched his age with a 71. It is the 14th time he has matched or bettered his age.

The last sponsor exemption to win a Champions Tour event was Christy O'Connor Jr. in 1999.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.