BENTON HARBOR — Bernhard Langer, who is attempting to be the first player to win all five majors on the Champions Tour, has moved himself into contention with a strong second round.

Langer, who shot 69 in Thursday’s opening round, followed that up with a 64 at Harbor Shore Friday to move to the top of the leaderboard at -9.

He was tied with the first with opening round leader Rocco Mediate, who had yet to tee off.

Langer, who has traditionally played well at Harbor Shores, said the difference from the first to second round was putting.

“I made more putts today and I hit my irons a little closer,” he said. “It’s a little easier to make a 10 foot putt than a 20 foot putt. We all know that. I played pretty good yesterday, just didn’t get much going. I was a little flat. But today I got off to a nice start and continued to play really good golf throughout the whole day.”

Langer, who has 27 Champions Tour victories, which is tied for third all-time, has three top five finishes at the Sr. PGA Championship, including a runner-up finish in 2008. He finished third two years ago at Harbor chores and fourth in 2012.

Langer said it was important to get off to a good start.

He birdied the first hole and three of the final four holes. He had eight birdies on the day.

“When I saw 9-under earlier I figured, oh, the golf course can be had,” he said. “The conditions are that good, soft, where you can go low. So I knew I could go low if I play well. And I tried to go low, but I just didn’t make a lot of putts yesterday.

“I missed a bunch of opportunities, but at the same time, I figured you can’t win the tournament the first round, you can only lose it by shooting a high number. So I stayed patient and I finished 2-under and I figured I got three more days. If I shoot three good scores, I might have a chance.”

With two round yet to play and no idea what the players who teed off in the afternoon will shoot; Langer is still optimistic about his chance to complete the career grand slam.

“Well, I was told last week that nobody’s every done it before,” he said. “I didn’t even know that. So it’s always special if you can do something that no one has done. And to think even guys like (Jack) Nicklaus or Hale Irwin or Tom Watson, I mean there’s so many legends and great names that have played this tour that nobody’s ever won all five majors is pretty amazing. So hopefully, I’ll have a chance and it would be a thrill.”

Mediate did not run away from Langer Friday, but he did reclaim the lead after shooting a 66 finish at 14-under.

Two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie also worked his way back toward the top of the leaderboard shooting a 66 to move to within five shots shots of Mediate.