KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii » Eagles and birdies continued to fly in the still air of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on Saturday.

In otherwise whisper-quiet conditions, Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples separated themselves from a torrid pack on the one hole where the wind picks up and waves crash the loudest.

Both birdied the oceanside 17th to take a one-shot advantage into today’s final round of the Champions Tour season opener.

In benign conditions, Langer shot an 8-under-par 64 with no bogeys in the second round. Couples caught him with his second straight 65.

Their two-day total of 14-under-par 130 is one better than Mark O’Meara, who was 7 under after seven holes and finished with 65.

Ten golfers are within four shots of first. With conditions at Hualalai predicted to be perfect again, today will be yet another shootout.

"Any tournament out here, you’re not going to back into it," said O’Meara, whose second and last senior win came in 2010. "You’ve got to go out there and shoot a good, low score. If the wind doesn’t blow, it’s going to take 20-plus-under par to win."

Langer and Couples are more blunt.

"If you shoot even par you get lapped if the weather is like this," said Langer, who won here five years ago. "The course is so good you’ve got to make birdies unless the wind howls."

"The scores here are crazy every year," Couples added. "To be honest, the only time I pay attention is Sunday when I’m done."

Couples, 54, is one of nine World Golf Hall of Famers in this field of 41. He has won nine senior events since 2010, including the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in November.

He has two top-five finishes here the past four years and is 31 under in his past six rounds at Hualalai.

Langer is 33 under. He two-putted three of the par-5s for birdie Saturday and sank a 30-footer at No. 8. His other birdie putts were inside 12 feet until he drained a 15-footer at the 17th that put him ahead. Couples caught him with a 20-footer.

Langer called the one par-5 he did not birdie his only mistake.

"The rest of it was pretty much perfect," said Langer, who had nines of 31-30 on the back Friday and the front Saturday.

Last year, he came within a shot of a playoff here and at the Pacific Links Championship at Kapolei. It was the story of his season. He hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since July, but the last of his 18 senior wins came in April.

"There is definitely frustration," he said, "especially because I was leading almost every week at some point. I’m ready for more wins, hopefully."

He won his fifth money title last year but injured his surgically repaired thumb Thursday and had to drop out of the pro-am. The pain disappeared Saturday and Couples’ balky back also held up.

So did his putter. He and O’Meara lead the field with 51 putts and Couples had 10 one-putts Saturday.

"I did play better," said Couples, who was 6 under on the par-5s Friday. "I made a nice five on 14 (after hitting into the lava), but played the par-5s in 2 under and I was fortunate to do that. That’s not what I need to do. I need to birdie them all to hang on with these guys. I did it today with just making a few more putts."

David Frost, who lost to John Cook in a playoff here last year, pulled into contention with a 64. He also one-putted 10 times.

Frost is two back and shares fourth with Jeff Sluman (66) and Steve Elkington (67). First-round leader Rocco Mediate was 1 over on the back nine and fell into a tie for seventh, at 11 under, with Tom Lehman (66).

Couples and Langer go out last today at 1:15 p.m. The last time they played in the final group together was at the 2012 Senior British Open at Turnberry, which Couples won.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Mitsubishi Electric
At Hualalai Golf Course
Kaupulehu-Kona

Purse: $1.8 million
Yardage: 7,107; Par 72

Second Round 

TODAY’S TEE TIMES

9:55 a.m.: Ben Crenshaw
10:05 a.m.: Tom Kite, Mark Calcavecchia
10:15 a.m.: Mark McNulty, Mark Wiebe
10:25 a.m.: Curtis Strange, Esteban Toledo
10:35 a.m.: Willie Wood, Joe Daley
10:45 a.m.: Michael Allen, Mike Reid
10:55 a.m.: John Cook, Loren Roberts
11:05 a.m.: Brad Faxon, Kohki Idoki
11:15 a.m.: Kenny Perry, John Riegger
11:25 a.m.: Kirk Triplett, Nick Price
11:35 a.m.: Olin Browne, Tom Watson
11:45 a.m.: Roger Chapman, Jay Don Blake
11:55 a.m.: Larry Nelson, Hale Irwin
12:05 p.m.: Corey Pavin, Dan Forsman
12:15 p.m.: Fred Fnk, Russ Cochran
12:25 p.m.: Craig Stadler, Tom Pernice Jr.
12:35 p.m.: Jay Haas, Bart Bryant
12:45 p.m.: Tom Lehman, Rocco Mediate
12:55 p.m.: Jeff Sluman, Steve Elkington
1:05 p.m.: Mark O’Meara, David Frost
1:15 p.m.: Bernhard Langer, Fred Couplesa