Saturday's golf: Broadhurst opens 2-shot lead at Senior PGA Championship
Pittsford, N.Y. — Whatever unease Paul Broadhurst felt following a near 2-1/2 hour weather delay quickly evaporated once he hit his first tee shot into the middle of the narrow fairway on the fifth hole at Oak Hill Country Club.
The defending champion felt even better to come out of a second weather delay and par the final three holes for a bogey-free round and a two-shot lead in the Senior PGA Championship.
“I guess determination,” the 53-year-old Englishman said in describing what it took to shoot a 3-under 67 and move to 6-under 204 entering the final day of the major tournament.
It took some patience, as well, for Broadhurst to navigate a narrow course with tiny greens and amid ever-changing weather conditions to extend his bogey-free streak to 38 consecutive holes. He’s in position to become the tournament’s first back-to-back winner since Colin Montgomerie in 2014-15, and eighth in the event’s 80-year history.
As Broadhurst noted, Oak Hill presents a far different challenge to the longer, but more wide-open Harbor Shores course in southwest Michigan, where he shot a 19-under 265 to win last year’s tournament.
“The emphasis here is on accuracy, no question,” Broadhurst said, before assessing how much more complete his game has become since taking three years off from professional golf before joining the senior tour in 2016. “I think it just shows I’m a lot more consistent than I used to be.”
The five-time PGA Tour Champions winner entered the day as the co-leader with Esteban Toledo, who tumbled into seventh at 1 over after a 74.
Broadhurst’s first two birdies came immediately before and after the first delay, which began just after 10 a.m. He birdied the 570-yard par-5 fourth hole before the horns blew to halt play. Broadhurst returned to birdie the par-3 sixth. 6. He also had a birdie 3 on No. 10.
The second delay began just after 3 p.m. and lasted just 40 minutes, extending the length of the round to nearly 10 hours.
Two-time U.S. Open-winner Retief Goosen was second at 4 under after a 67. Ken Tanigawa was third at 3 under following a 66. Tour money leader Scott McCarron shot a 67 to get to 2 under.
The 50-year-old Goosen, in his first season on the senior tour, noted he experienced nerves in finding himself in contention to win what would be his first title since the 2007 CommercialBank Qatar Masters on the European Tour.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in this sort of position when the butterflies are flying a little,” said the South African who won seven times on the PGA Tour and 14 times on the European Tour. “In a way it’s great to get all the juices going. And it’s almost like you got to try and back off a little bit and not hit the ball too hard. It’s a good feeling.”
After a bogey-5 on No. 2, Goosen responded by holing a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 4, and then drained a 20-footer for birdie on the par-four seventh. He also birdied the par-4 ninth and 16th.
“I didn’t feel all that sort of stressed about the conditions or anything,” Goosen said about the breaks in play. “I felt there were birdies to be made out there.”
The third round began with hardly a breeze and temperatures in 60s. The day ended with a steady breeze and muggy conditions with temperatures reaching 80. Storms also caused a more than two-hour delay midway through the opening round Thursday.
McCarron hasn’t forgotten what happened at last year’s major. He was the co-third-round leader at Harbor Shores before being passed by Broadhurst and finishing in a tie for third.
“You’ve got to shot a 4, 5, 6 under probably,” McCarron said, looking ahead to the final round. “He came from back behind and played a tremendous round to win, so maybe it’s payback.”
Asked if a 6 under is possible at Oak Hill, McCarron said: “Why not? I mean, I felt I should have done that today.”
PGA
At Ford Worth, Texas, Kevin Na settled for a 1-under 69 a day after going low at Colonial again, taking a two-shot lead over a group that included local favorite Jordan Spieth and 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk.
Na recovered from a double bogey at the par-5 11th that cost him the lead, steadying himself over the final seven holes to reach 9 under. His 62 in the second round was his third at least that low over a span of six rounds at Colonial.
Spieth and Furyk, winless since 2015, both shot 68 and were among the group at 7 under along with C.T. Pan, who was tied with Na before bogeys on the final two holes. Pan settled for a 68 as well.
First-round leader Tony Finau (71) fell into the group at 7 under with a bogey on 18 after hitting his driver into the water.
LPGA
At Williamsburg, Va., Bronte Law birdied the par-4 18th for a 4-under 67 and a share of the lead in the Pure Silk Championship for the third straight round.
Nasa Hataoka matched Law at 13-under 200 at Kingsmill Resort, rebounding from a bogey on the par-4 14th with an eagle on the par-5 15th in a 65. The Japanese player won the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California, in late March for her third LPGA Tour title.
Law is winless on the tour. The Englishwoman starred at UCLA.
Jennifer Song, tied for the lead after each of the first two rounds, had a 68 to fall a shot back along with Brooke Henderson. Henderson had a 64.
Europe
At Farso, Denmark, Bernd Wiesberger bogeyed a third hole to finish the third round and still led the Made in Denmark event by a shot.
Seeking a fifth European Tour title, Wiesberger started the day at 5 under and climbed to 9 under after eight holes. Bogeys either side of the turn set him back, only for the Austrian to reel off three consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-14 to go to 10 under.
But Wiesberger failed to get up and down on the 18th, and the bogey gave him a 4-under 67 at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort, still his lowest round of the year.
That was enough to give him a one-shot lead over Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, who carded a 3-under 68.