German Bernhard Langer shot 3-under-par 68 to extend his lead after three rounds of the U.S. Senior Open on Saturday at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.

Langer sits at 6-under 207 for the tournament, two shots ahead of Jerry Kelly, who also carded a 68. Langer held a one-shot lead after 36 holes.

Steve Stricker (68) is alone in third at 3 under, while Y.E. Yang of South Korea (69) and South African Retief Goosen (71) are five shots off the lead at T4. Rod Pampling, who was in second after Friday’s round, shot 79 and dropped to 6 over for the tourney.

Rob Labritz carded a 66 to jump 18 spots up the leaderboard into a tie with Germany’s Alex Cejka (68) in sixth at even par.

Langer came out of the gates birdie-birdie before recording a bogey on No. 4. It was his only blemish of the day. He birdied No. 5 before ending his round with a birdie on the par-4 18th.

“I felt really good. Got off to a dream start,” Langer said. “My first five shots were as good as I can hit them, plus two really good putts.

“Played really solid. Got a little shaky there in the middle and had to save a few pars. I think the greens slowed up a little bit somewhere along the line.”

Langer is seeking his 46th career victory on the Champions Tour. He is currently tied with Hale Irwin for most titles.

Kelly posted four birdies against two bogeys for his round.

“You know he’s going to be tough. He’s smelling 46 right now,” Kelly said of trying to chase down Langer. “I think he’s going to come on strong. I don’t see him letting up.

“I think there’s a score out there. If you can get to that front side and just keep going on the back, I think it’s there,” Kelly added. “But the front side is tough to get under par. It really is. Just see if I can turn at under and try to step on the gas a little bit.”

Stricker was playing 4-under for his round until he ran into bogeys at Nos. 13 and 15. But he carded a birdie on the 18th.

“It was an opportunity to have a really special round today,” Stricker said. “But overall really solid.”

–Field Level Media

Bernhard Langer, who won the latest of his record 11 PGA Tour Champions major titles four years ago, sits in first place at the midpoint of the U.S. Senior Open.

The 65-year-old German shot a 3-under-par 68 on Friday at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., leaving him at 3-under 139 through two rounds.

First-round leader Rod Pampling of Australia is in second at 2 under after carding a 1-over 72 on Friday.

Dicky Pride (second-round 69), Jerry Kelly (70) and South Africa’s Retief Goosen are tied for third place at 1 under.

Wisconsin native Steve Stricker (70), who won the previous two PGA Tour Champions majors this year, and South Africa’s Ernie Els (71) share sixth place at even par.

South Korea’s Y.E. Yang (70) and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (73) are tied for eighth at 1 over.

Langer is tied with Hale Irwin for the most career wins on the senior circuit, each with 45. Langer posted his latest win at the Chubb Classic in February. He last prevailed in a Champions major at the 2019 Senior Open Championship.

On Friday, Langer wound up with six birdies and three bogeys.

“Yesterday was — yeah, you can’t say boring, but a lot of pars. I think I only had one birdie, if I’m correct,” he said. “Today was a little bit better. Played pretty solid, and believe it or not, I had two three-putts and a hit a sand wedge from the middle of the fairway into the water hazard, which is painful when you think about that from 100 yards, but that’s golf.

“The course is tough, but it’s fair, and it’s a great setup. I’m fortunate to be playing well and look forward to the weekend.”

Pampling’s round featured a lone birdie, at the par-4 ninth hole, and two bogeys.

“I played solid,” Pampling said. “The greens are a little bit tricky this afternoon. I never had the nice putts yesterday, so was always a lot more break today. My speed was just a bit off. I’d played mostly in the morning, so, yeah, I was just coming up a bit short. I’ll address that now and be ready to go tomorrow.”

Other big names lurking just behind the leaders include Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (tied for 12th at 3 over), Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie (tied for 17th at 4 over) and South Korea’s K.J. Choi and Fiji’s Vijay Singh (tied for 24th at 5 over).

–Field Level Media

Australia’s Rod Pampling opened with two birdies and went on to hold a two-shot lead after the first round of the U.S. Senior Open on Thursday in Stevens Point, Wis.

Despite making a double bogey near the end of his round, Pampling shot a 3-under-par 68 at SentryWorld. Mike Small, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and South Africa’s Retief Goosen share second place at 70.

Bob Sowards, Jeff Maggert, Jerry Kelly, David Toms, Ken Tanigawa, Germany’s Bernhard Langer, Australia’s Richard Green, Brazil’s Adilson da Silva and South Africans Ernie Els and James Kingston are tied for fifth at 71.

Steve Stricker, who won the previous two PGA Tour Champions majors this year, is among a group of eight players tied for 15th at 72.

Pampling, 53, has won just once on the senior circuit, when he captured the 2021 Boeing Classic.

On Thursday, he started on the back nine and produced a wild round that featured seven birdies, two bogeys and the double bogey at the par-4 sixth hole.

“It was obviously a fun day,” Pampling said. “I’d been playing well for the last month or so. To get here and see the course, it felt good. I drove it really well and made a lot of birdies out there. Just the one hole made a little mistake on, tried to get a little too aggressive.

“On the whole, I putted it really well, which was nice to see the balls going in. It’s nice to get a good view of the greens and can pick the breaks early on.”

Small, the men’s golf coach at the University of Illinois, is competing in his 73rd career PGA Tour Champions event while looking for his first top-five finish. He birdied his first three holes, starting on the back nine, and had six birdies and three bogeys before closing with a double bogey on the par-4 ninth hole.

“For not playing a lot of tournament golf, I held it in there,” Small said. “I didn’t hit many fairways today, and that caught up with me on the last hole.

“The last hole was probably the best drive I hit it all day. But that’s just a weird hole when they take a par 5 and turn it into a par 4 and move the tee up. That’s a weird deal. And then I left myself a bad layup. (Even so,) it was a good day.”

Other notables in the field include Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie (72), South Korea’s K.J. Choi (73), Fiji’s Vijay Singh (74), Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (74) and Mark O’Meara (74).

–Field Level Media

Davis Love III withdrew before the start of Thursday’s opening round of the U.S. Senior Open.

Tom Werkmeister, the first alternate, replaced Love in the field at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.

No reason was announced for Love’s decision.

Love, 59, was a 21-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 1997 PGA Championship for his only major.

–Field Level Media

Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland will host the 2024 Senior Open Championship, event organizers announced Tuesday.

Carnoustie has hosted the Senior Open twice before, in 2010 (won by Bernhard Langer of Germany) and 2016 (won by Paul Broadhurst of England).

The course, often called “Golf’s Greatest Test,” has also hosted the Open Championship eight times, most recently in 2018, and the Women’s British Open twice.

“We have witnessed some historic moments during our past visits to Carnoustie, none more so than Bernhard Langer’s first senior major triumph in 2010, which as we now know has led him to become the most prolific player in the history of senior major championships,” championship director Edward Kitson said in a statement.

“We are grateful to our partners at The R&A, PGA Tour Champions, Rolex, Carnoustie Golf Links and VisitScotland for their support in bringing this championship back to Scotland.”

This year’s edition of the major will be contested July 27-30 at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland is the defending champion.

–Field Level Media