Berkshire, England (My Sportsbook) - Fred Funk eagled the 18th hole on Friday to shoot a five-under 65 in the second round of the Senior British Open and set a new 36-hole tournament scoring record.

Funk, who fired a sparkling 64 on Thursday to also set the 18-hole record, moved to 11-under-par 129 to break the old halfway mark of 130 set three years ago by Loren Roberts.

He holed his last shot of the day, an eight-iron from 170 yards, for the closing eagle. Funk also collected three birdies, posting his second straight bogey-free round on the Old Course at Sunningdale.

"I don't feel like I shot 65," said Funk, who built a three-shot lead. "It's just the way it all added up at the end. When you do what I did at the finish and then all of a sudden you're five-under par, you go, 'Wow, where did that come from?'"

Sam Torrance also shot a 65 Friday, but still trails Funk by three strokes at eight-under 132. Roberts, the 2006 champion, posted a 68 and is two shots further behind at six-under 134.

The leaderboard behind Funk is littered with top Champions Tour players. Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Tom Kite and Jay Haas are among those in contention as the second senior major of the season heads to the weekend.

But they are chasing a player in Funk who is not only comfortable on the course at the moment, but confident in his ability to close the championship out.

"There's a lot of golf to be played, but I'm playing well. If I keep doing what I'm doing and especially putt as well as I've been putting, I will be hard to catch," said Funk.

Following up a low first-round score with another good number is no easy task, just ask any top golfer. And as Funk walked off the course Friday -- even after his dramatic closing eagle gave him the 36-hole record -- he wasn't sure he had done it.

"It wasn't like I walked off thinking I shot this great round," Funk said, "although it was a round I would have loved to have before I teed off, that's for sure."

Groups in the afternoon wave had to wait out a thunderstorm that forced a weather delay of nearly two hours. Back on the course, they found Funk's pace impossible to match.

Of course, it wasn't until late in the round that Funk really got going himself.

He started the round with a birdie on No. 1 for the second straight day, but all that awaited Funk on the next 12 holes were pars.

Suddenly, he was treading water.

Funk, however, went on to birdie the 14th and 16th holes before his theatrical finish gave him his third 36-hole lead on the Champions Tour.

It helped the 53-year-old Funk steal the spotlight from Watson, the three-time Senior Open champion who is coming off a spectacular run at Turnberry, where he nearly became the oldest major champion on the PGA Tour.

"I birdied 16 and holed a shot on 18 and all of a sudden it looks like a great round that I played," said Funk, who is chasing his fifth Champions Tour win and second senior major.