KANSAS CITY, Mo. — By the end of his round Friday, Tom Watson had decided it was time to tweak his putting grip — time to try something.

"Because nothing else was working," he would say later over the phone from England.

It had been that kind of day for Watson, a three-time Senior British Open champion, at Sunningdale Golf Club's Old Course.

Watson managed a 1-under 69 in the second round and is at 4-under 136 for the tournament. But there were too many missed birdie attempts, too many 3-putts, too much could-have-been for his liking.

"It could have been a really good round if I had just putted average," he said.

Halfway through the Senior British Open, Watson is in a six-way tie for sixth place, 7 strokes behind leader Fred Funk.

Funk's eagle on the par-4 18th hole Friday gave him a 5-under 65 and a 3-stroke lead. His 11-under 129 is a record for 36 holes in the event.

Sam Torrance is second at 8 under, Loren Roberts is third at 6 under, and Michael Allen and Tom Kite are tied for fourth at 5 under.

Watson is in the next pack of challengers, tied with Denis Watson, Mark McNulty, Don Pooley, Greg Norman and Gordon J. Brand.

"If I don't start running the tables, (Funk is) going to run away with this tournament," Watson said.

He knows that he needs to score low Saturday to have a chance at erasing that 7-stroke deficit — and that he's going to need cooperation from his putter.

Watson made a basketball analogy in explaining his frustration Friday.

"I need to make the second end of the one-and-one free throw," he said.

The first part of that equation is that he's hitting the ball well — ever since the start of play last week at the British Open in Scotland — and giving himself chances to score.

On the 18th hole, Watson said he stuck his 9-iron approach shot within 4 feet of the hole and knocked it in for the birdie — his third of the round to go with two bogeys.

They didn't all go that smoothly, though.

Watson opened with a birdie on the par-5 first hole and made another on the par-4 11th. Around those birdies, he recounted a healthy share of missed opportunities and 3-putts.

Watson's round was delayed a couple hours by a thunderstorm, and 18 players didn't complete their rounds. They were expected do that early Saturday.