Watson had nine birdies in Saturday's second-round play and led second-place Fred Couples, who was 13-under 131 for the Champions Tour event.
Michael Allen and Tom Lehman were tied for third, three strokes behind Watson.
John Cook held the lead briefly after Watson bogeyed the first hole. Watson birdied the second to move into a tie and then birdied 6 and 7 to take over the lead.
Watson fell out of first again at the turn but birdied the next four holes as well as the 17th.
"I hung on and started to make some good swings and got the ball close to the hole, made a couple good putts there and managed to turn it around," Watson said.
Couples' scorecard had no bogeys and a half-dozen birdies.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International.
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