Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera are among four players tied for the lead after three rounds of the Senior PGA Championship in Bethesda, Md.
Jason Caron and England’s Phillip Archer also part of the tie at 5-under 211 after Saturday’s windy third round at Congressional Country Club. Seven others are within two shots of the lead.
Goosen of South Africa shot 4-under 68 for the best round among the co-leaders. He had six birdies and two bogeys.
Argentina’s Cabrera shot 70 while Caron and Archer each carded a 71.
“You’ve just got to go out there and play shot for shot and see what happens,” Goosen said. “If you make a lot of birdies, great. If you don’t, well, somebody else here is going to, especially if conditions improve.”
Cabrera made four birdies and two bogeys, while Caron and Archer each had four birdies and three bogeys.
Stewart Cink (71 on Saturday) and England’s Lee Westwood (68) are one shot back at 212.
The pack at 3-under includes Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (73) and Fiji’s Vijay Singh (75). Also part of the group is Sweden’s Robert Karlsson (73), Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (73) and South Korea’s Y.E. Yang (75).
Cink had three birdies and two bogeys. He saw some of the names near the top of the leaderboard and it reminded him of former times on the PGA Tour.
“As you can see, the players up there have won a lot on hard golf courses,” Cink said. “This course is really demanding, with the wind especially. It’s just seemed like every hole, there is a place you just cannot go and you have to know where that is and game-plan for it and you have to execute. That’s just major championship golf.
“It feels like a major out there. It’s really challenging. Those names up there have all had some success.”
Archer took notice while making his way around the course.
“You’ve grown up watching these guys win tournaments and majors, and yeah, you’re in their company,” Archer said. “And you’ve got to tell yourself you belong there. “I’m there by credit, and I’m playing nice stuff.”
Westwood carded seven birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.
“Every tournament it’s nice to get in contention,” Westwood said. “It’s nice to see your name on the leaderboard and make a move on a Saturday. It’s moving day, and I knew even par was there or thereabouts, and I know I’ve got one or two low rounds in me the way I’m playing.
“I’m hitting the ball well, hitting it a long way, and I’ve got a lot of scoring opportunities and birdie opportunities out there.”
Justin Leonard (73), England’s Richard Bland (73) and Denmark’s Seren Kjeldsen (74) are tied for 12th at 2 under.
–Field Level Media
