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Langer builds 3-shot lead at Senior British

Sat 24th, July 2010

Carnoustie, Scotland (Sports Network) - Bernhard Langer built a three-shot lead at the Senior British Open on Saturday after carding a two-under 69 in the third round.

Langer finished 54 holes at Carnoustie with a six-under 207, moving into good position to pick up his first career major on the Champions Tour.

"I'm close, but there's a lot of golf left and this course is very tough," said Langer. "I still need to play a great round of golf [on Sunday] and stay focused."

Tour rookie Corey Pavin shared the 36-hole lead with Langer, but couldn't keep pace, posting a 72 to fall to three-under 210.

Six players were tied at two-under 211, including Fred Funk, who rocketed 16 places on the leaderboard with a four-under 67. He was joined in third place by Jay Haas (72), Larry Mize (72), Ian Woosnam (72), Jay Don Blake (70) and Russ Cochran (70).

Langer, 56, didn't give the field much of a chance to catch him.

He started the round with a birdie on the first hole, rolling in a 20-foot putt, then rattled off four consecutive pars. He two-putted at the par-five sixth to collect his second birdie and followed with eight straight pars.

The leaderboard stacked up behind Langer, but the players were only jockeying for second place. Pavin made a six-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole to draw within three shots, joining Mize and Woosnam at three-under par.

At the 15th, Langer knocked a 173-yard approach shot to about eight feet and made his third birdie of the round to take a four-shot lead.

He avoided making a bogey at the par-three 16th after knocking his tee shot into the chipping area behind the green. Using his putter to get up and over a large mound, Langer rolled his second shot to around 10 feet and drained the par-saver to remain four ahead.

He missed a short, curling putt for birdie at the 17th and was cursed by short grass again when his final drive found the center of the 18th fairway, only to roll about 30 yards into a bunker.

Langer's closing bogey gave him his second sub-70 round of the week. He shot a 67 on Thursday to earn a three-way share of the 18-hole lead, then followed with a 71 on Saturday to tie Pavin for the 36-hole lead.

"I was pretty pleased again with my ball-striking. Most of it was very solid and kept me out of trouble most of the time. And I made a putt or two, which was nice," said Langer.

The Hall of Famer from Germany has 10 career Champions Tour wins, including two this year, but no majors. He will be looking to fill that gap in his resume on Sunday.

"I'm going to have to go out and play the same way I've played all week, just attack certain holes and play sensible on some other holes," said Langer, who won the Masters twice on the PGA Tour.

"If I still have the lead coming down the last few holes, the strategy can't change."

Pavin, the 50-year-old U.S. Ryder Cup captain, is playing in his first senior major.

In his first year of eligibility for the Champions Tour, Pavin is still splitting time on the PGA Tour, where he has won $839,193 this season while collecting two top-10 finishes.

The 1995 U.S. Open winner has also played well with the 50-and-over crowd, racking up six top-25 finishes and $444,667 in prize money. He took second place at the Cap Cana Championship in March.

Pavin totaled two birdies and three bogeys in Saturday's third round. If not for a frustrating day of putting, he would have been closer to the lead.

"It's not like I have to make a million birdies out there, but it would have been nice for a few of them to fall in," said Pavin.

Mark Calcavecchia arrived at the 18th tee sitting at two-under, then made a quadruple-bogey to fall eight shots off the lead at two-over par. He carded a 75.

Tom Watson, a five-time British Open winner and three-time Senior Open champion, dropped nine strokes back after a 71.

NOTES: Langer and Pavin will play in the final pairing again on Sunday...Defending champion Loren Roberts fell 11 strokes off the pace after shooting a 75...Carl Mason, who is tied for most wins in European Senior Tour history, shot a 69 to share ninth place with Gary Hallberg (68) at one-under 212.