Mike Reid makes his par putt on the 14th green en route to shooting a 6-under 66 on Saturday and finishing the day in second place heading into todays final round of The Tradition.

SUNRIVER Mike Reid is an unassuming, quiet type.

And he has not made much noise on the Champions Tour this year at least not until this week.

Reid tied for the lowest score, a 6-under-par 66, of Saturdays third round at the 2009 Jeld-Wen Tradition, and crept into contention heading into todays final round at Crosswater Club.

But it was an unlikely ascent to the top of the leaderboard.

Reid has not earned a top-10 finish since 2007, and he earned his only Champions Tour win at the Senior PGA Championship in 2005.

Reids best finish this year came in May, when he tied for 12th place at the Principal Charity Classic.

Ive just been trying to work hard and trying to make progress in a lot of areas, the 55-year-old Reid said Saturday. Not just ball-striking, but thinking and everything. And I think this week things have come together. Some of these promising signs are turning themselves into good scores.

The two-time PGA Tour winner has not undergone any major swing overhauls recently, he said.

Rather, he noted, he has made subtle changes to his technique, and to his attitude.

I cant say I have changed anything a great deal, Reid said. Its all fundamentals. At my age, it kind of is what it is.

When you start hitting the ball solid then I think it becomes easier to think clearly. And you think about what you want to do rather than what you are afraid (the ball) might do.

Nicknamed Radar for his accuracy off the tee, the soft-spoken Reid does not appear to be one for change.

He has what he called a dinosaur collection of golf clubs he is using this week.

He uses a driver from about 2000, a decade-old custom putter, a six-year-old gap wedge, and irons from the late 1980s, he said.

His 5-wood, he observed, he received from TaylorMade in the 1990s.

Its not like it has a wooden shaft or anything, Reid said of the aging 5-wood. But I like it, and I seem to have a feel for the distance it goes.

In all, Reid said, he carries just one club a hybrid that is still in production.

Everything else is available on eBay, if you are lucky, Reid said. But they are my clubs and I like them. And I think as long as you know the distance they are going (they are fine).

Can Reid ride those old clubs to a Tradition win?

Maybe. But it is unlikely he will be tweaking his strategy to do it.

You just have to stay the course and be patient, Reid said. I think Im going to have to keep doing the same thing: set up chances and maybe knock a few down and see if we can get right in there.