golf rdup
One big push down the stretch vaulted Scott McCarron to the top of a crowded leaderboard and put him in position to capture his second straight Constellation Senior Players Championship.
If he does, he’ll join Arnold Palmer and Bernhard Langer as the only back-to-back winners of this PGA Tour Champions major.
McCarron and Bart Bryant shot matching 65s on Saturday to move into a share of the lead with Jeff Maggert.
McCarron birdied two of the final four holes at Exmoor Country Club for a three-round total of 16-under 200. Last year, he rallied to win the event at Caves Valley near Baltimore.
Maggert, who led most of the day, shot 66.
Vijay Singh (66) was one shot back. Three-time champion Langer (67) and Illinois golf coach Mike Small (66) were another stroke behind, and Scott Parel (70) was in a group at 13 under.
McCarron came into the week with seven top-10 finishes this year and a win at the American Family Insurance Championship last month.
“The only way to repeat is you’ve got to put yourself in position going into the final round, which I’ve done,” he said. “(Sunday) will be very exciting. We’ve got a stacked leaderboard, and someone is going to have to go pretty low tomorrow to win this tournament.”
It’s the first time three players have been tied for the lead entering the final round of a major since the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, when eventual winner Russ Cochran was even with Mark Calcavecchia and David Frost.
McCarron opened with a birdie on the par-5 first hole and finished with eight birdies and one bogey on a rainy afternoon. He came on strong on the back nine, making three straight birdies starting with the par-4 10th. He added two more on the par-5 15th and par-4 17th while also limiting his mistakes.
“I hit the ball very well,” he said. “I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. I went after the hole locations that were on the right side for me where I can hit my cut, and the hole locations on the left side I played a little safe. I did a very good job of managing my game today.”
Maggert – who won both the Regions Tradition and the U.S. Senior Open in 2015 – came in anticipating a “birdie-fest” because of the soggy conditions and got off to a blistering start.
He opened with an eagle after his approach rolled to about 3 feet. With birdies on the par-4 second and fourth holes, he looked like he might build a big lead.
But he made just three birdies the rest of the way before a bogey at 16 dropped him into a tie for the lead.
Henderson holds LPGA lead: Brooke Henderson birdied the 17th hole on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead at the Marathon Classic. The 20-year-old Canadian moved out of a tie for the lead with a birdie on the par-5 17th at Highland Meadows. She shot a 2-under 69 and is at 11-under 202 for the tournament. Angela Stanford and Brittany Lincicome are one stroke behind.
Davies pulls away in event: Laura Davies made six birdies and a 60-foot eagle putt to shoot a women’s course-record 66 at Chicago Golf Club and earn a five-shot lead in the first U.S. Senior Women’s Open.