The Champions Tour is viewed by some players as a second chance at glory, by others as an opportunity for career revival, and by still others as a second career altogether.
Look at the leaderboard after three rounds of the Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, and all three of those categories are covered.
Co-leader Tom Lehman (pictured) and third-place Mark O’Meara have won major championships during their PGA Tour days but are still looking for their first individual win on the Champions Tour.
Co-leader Jay Don Blake, winner of one PGA Tour event in his career, has such a difficult time getting into Champions Tour events that the thought of capturing the Senior PGA title brought tears to his eyes on Saturday.
And third-place Mike Goodes, who owns a packing company and is a partner in a plastic-recycling business, didn’t turn pro until age 50 in 2007, then hit pay-dirt by winning a Champions Tour event last year.
And then, of course, there’s Fred Couples, who at 50 can still compete with the best players in the world.
That’s quite a mix of players.
“The Champions Tour is a really, really interesting tour because there’s a lot of really great camaraderie out here, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty these guys are still really competitive and they really want to win,” Lehman said. “So whether it’s this tour or the PGA Tour, that chance to win means a lot. And the intensity level is way up there. You’re giving it all you’ve got.”
On Saturday, Lehman overcame a triple bogey on the par-3 17th hole — where it took him four shots to reach the putting surface — to birdie the 18th for a 71 and a share of the 54-hole lead at 6-under-par 210. He’s tied with Utahan Blake, who bogeyed No. 18 for a 70 on Saturday.
O’Meara (third-round 67) and Goodes (70) share third place at 212 with Couples, who struggled to a 75, his worst score on the Champions Tour by four strokes. The 1992 Masters champion went 5 over par in four holes in the middle of his round, including four-putting for a double bogey at No. 10, to lose his lead, but rallied with birdies on Nos. 13 and 14.
“If you don’t watch out, you can back up pretty quick” on this course, observed Blake.
All told, with a dozen players within four strokes of the lead, things are far from settled.
“There’s six or eight or 10 guys that if they play good (Sunday) can definitely win this tournament,” O’Meara said.
And, judging by his reaction Saturday, there’s probably no one a win would mean more to Sunday than Blake. He won once on the PGA Tour, in 1991, but has such tenuous status nowadays on the Champions Tour than not even he can explain it. He’s been trying to Monday qualify for events and he’s gotten into just two, finishing top-10 both times. But a win in the Senior PGA Championship would give him a rock-solid exemption for at least the next year.
“It’s tough to get your foot in the door,” said Blake, who has gone 395 PGA/Champions/Nationwide Tour events since his last win. “You keep plugging and maybe win one of these things and get your foot in there.”
Asked what a win Sunday would mean to him, Blake said, while getting misty-eyed, “I know it would bring a lot of tears. It would mean quite a bit.”
And though Lehman would certainly like to win Sunday, there’s a part of him that will be rooting for Blake.
“If all the people were like Jay Don, the world would be a better place,” he said.
Lehman, winner of the 1996 British Open, held a two-stroke lead over Blake — and had gone bogey free — when he came to the 207-yard 17th hole. And he felt like he hit a good 7-iron — so much so that he wanted the ball to sit down — but it ended up catching the front bunker. Not being prepared for the deep, heavy sand in that bunker, he failed to get his first attempt out. And his second try still didn’t make the green, ending up in the rough. Then he chipped on and two-putted for triple bogey.
“I really didn’t feel like I deserved a 6,” Lehman said. “”¦ The way I look at 17 today, it was just a fluke.”
Lehman came back with a 35-foot birdie on the final hole to regain a share of the lead.
O’Meara drove the green on the par-4 eighth hole and made an eagle to kick-start a round in which he played his last 11 holes in 6 under par. O’Meara’s caddie talked him into hitting driver on No. 8 after he was leaning toward playing more conservatively.
“Certainly the turnaround (for me) was No. 8,” he said.
O’Meara proceeded to one-putt nine times Saturday to get himself into contention. And now he has the opportunity for his first individual Champions Tour win in his 3½ years on the circuit (he won the 2010 Legends of Golf team event with partner Nick Price).
“Anytime you play, certainly my pride comes into play,” he said. “There’s no question it would mean a lot to play well (Sunday) and have a chance to come out on top.”
“¢YO-YO RIDE CONTINUES FOR LOEFFLER: Asked how many times he’s shot 69-82-69 in consecutive rounds, Bill Loeffler didn’t hesitate for a second Saturday before answering, “Never.”
Yet that’s what the Castle Rock resident has done so far in the Senior PGA Championship, where he went from being on the first-round leadberboard, to thinking he had missed the 36-hole cut, to being tied for low club professional in the first senior major of the year.
After relegating the belly putter he used for the first two rounds to “the dungeon; it will never see the light of day again,” Loeffler switched to a regular-length putter for Saturday. By he reckoning, it was the first time in 10 to 12 years he had used a standard-length putter in a tournament. (He said the last time might have been when he putted left-handed in the Colorado Open.)
“I putted much better; I putted great,” said Loeffler, co-owner of Highlands Ranch Golf Club. “It felt better. And the greens were a little faster, which helped.”
Loeffler made birdie putts of 5, 10, 12, 6 and 5 feet on Saturday.
Loeffler moved up from 69th to 30th position on Saturday, when he made five birdies, offset by two bogeys. As for the low club professional competition, the three-time Colorado Open champion shares first place going into Sunday’s final round. Coincidentally, tied with Loeffler at 4 over par is another former Colorado Open champion, two-time winner Jim Blair of Utah, along with Texan Lindy Miller.
“I would love to do that (be low club pro),” Loeffler said. “That was one of my goals coming in.”
For the record, Loeffler isn’t the only player in the field to shoot in the 60s, then the 80s, then the 60s again. Brad Bryant went 68-80-67.
As for the other players in the field with strong Colorado ties, Gary Hallberg of Castle Rock stands at 43rd with rounds of 71-75-76–222, former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin is 58th with 76-74-74–224, and Ron Vlosich of Lakewood is 77th after going 75-76-77–228.
“¢FROST HEATS UP: David Frost rebounded from a second-round 77 to establish the course record Saturday with a 7-under-par 65. The South African made seven birdies and no bogeys to climb into the top 10.
“I struck the ball very well from the first tee onwards,” he said.
Frost said he benefited from something he saw while watching Tom Watson hit balls for 20 minutes after Friday’s round. He subsequently made a slight grip adjustment — moving his left hand into a stronger position — that apparently worked wonders.
“Unbeknownst to (Watson), I did learn something from him,” Frost said.
Frost also owns the modern-day course record at St. Andrews in Scotland, a 65 he shot in the 2005 British Open (coincidentally the round after a 77).
“I would say (this) ranks right up there with that one,” said Frost, who played the only bogey-free round on Saturday.
Frost’s 65 was the lowest round in the Senior PGA since 2003.
“He didn’t play the last three (holes), I don’t think,” co-leader Jay Don Blake said.
“¢SHORT PAR-4S GET A LITTLE LOVE: Colorado Golf Club features two drivable par-4s, and they’ve been popular holes for many of the contestants. On Saturday, No. 8 played just 291 yards and No. 14 301 yards. But both holes can be penal if players bite off more than they can chew and hit an errant shot.
“To me, that’s what’s been lacking in the game,” Mark O’Meara said. “I understand that in today’s modern era the game is about power and the players are all hitting the ball so far, but I don’t think you combat that by lengthening golf courses. When you think about great holes in golf, the majority of great holes are some of the shortest holes that create an atmosphere where a player has got to think.”
Tom Lehman agrees. In his group, both Fred Couples and Tom Kite failed to get on the eighth green in two because of tee shots that went a little astray.
“That hole is 300 yards long and two of the best players in the world can’t get on in two,” Lehman said. “On top of that, it looks inviting. It’s not so narrow and so tough-looking that it makes you want to take out your 6-iron and play 6-iron (then) wedge. It kind of invites the driver.”
“¢CHIP SHOTS: Unlike Saturday, competitors will tee off No. 1 and No. 10 on Sunday. Tee times will start at 8:40 a.m., with the leaders (Jay Don Blake, Tom Lehman and Mark O’Meara) going off at 10:50. “¦ The winner Sunday will receive $360,000. “¦ Six of the last eight winners of the Senior PGA have come from behind in the final round.
