ROMERO SURGES CLEAR AT US SENIORS
Argentina's grizzled Eduardo Romero is the new leader of the US Senior Open after Saturday's third round.
Romero fired a magnificent 5-under-par 65 to edge two shots clear of Fred Funk, the back-to-back leader of the first and second rounds, and three in front of dogged American pursuer, John Cook.
His three-day 9-under 201 total also put him out of sight of the rest of the field, most of whom are in over-par figures.
Next best after cook, Tom Kite at 1-under, is all of eight shots behind Romero with Royal Birkdale nearly man Greg Norman a shot further back at level-par in a four-way tie with Spain's Juan Quiros and unheralded American's Jeff Klein and Keith Fergus.
"Fantastic round. I played great today," said a beaming Romero
"The course is playing great. The pins were a little easier than they were yesterday and the greens were a little softer," Funk said.
"I think the USGA kind of listened to some guys and they did a good job with the setup today."
The fourth and eighth holes for example, were much easier to handle than they were a day earlier, when the pin placements on the short par 3s turned the usually shot-saving front nine into a monster like the back nine, where the three toughest holes come right after the turn.
"Some of them (the holes) yesterday were on the side of slopes and if you got anywhere above the wrong side of the hole, you were going to be 20 feet past no matter what," said Greg Norman who followed his 2-over 72 on Friday with a respectable 68 on Saturday
"Today they are a lot more accessible, but they are still tough."
Funk, who led after the first two rounds, threw away a two-shot lead on the back nine, even though that's where his stiff neck first began to loosen up.
He was 4 under for the day and 10 under for the tournament at the turn before bogeying the 11th, 12th and 14th holes while Romero was carding a 1-under 34 on this nine.
"I think tomorrow the key is going to be the front nine, and the guys who can go out there and light it up," Funk said. "That's where you've got to get it."
In the meantime, nobody on Saturday made better use of the easier pin placements and the fact that they teed off early before the wind came up, than Klein and Scott Simpson, who tied the course record with 6-under-par 64s.
Klein, a senior tour rookie who turned 50 in May, also tied the US Senior Open record for the lowest nine-hole score (30).
He did it by making six birdies and no bogeys on the front nine.
"I only hope that doesn't make anybody mad," Klein said of his 64, which he feared might force the USGA to consider returning to tougher pin placements on Sunday.
Romero, meanwhile, had seven birdies and two bogeys, but missed some makeable putts that could have given him an even bigger lead.
"Normally I'm bad at putting, I'm a terrible putter," Romero said.
"I started playing good two months ago. I'm doing very well. My putter is working now. When I miss, well, I'm still with good concentration, but I'm happy with my putting."
"If I win tomorrow, first of all, it's a dream for me," Romero said.
"But also, to win the tournament tomorrow is very important for Latin America and Argentina."
ALL THE THIRD ROUND SCORES
(USA unless stated, par 70):
201 Eduardo Romero (Arg) 67 69 65
203 Fred Funk 65 69 69
204 John Cook 66 72 66
209 Tom Kite 67 71 71
210 Juan Quiros (Spa) 67 73 70, Jeff Klein 73 73 64, Keith Fergus 73 71 66, Greg Norman (Aus) 70 72 68
211 Scott Simpson 74 73 64, Mark McNulty (Irl) 68 70 73
212 D A Weibring 71 69 72, Tom Watson 69 74 69, Morris Hatalsky 67 73 72, Jay Haas 72 70 70
213 Andy Bean 69 71 73, Joey Sindelar 73 72 68, Ian Woosnam (Wal) 74 68 71
214 Michael Reid 76 72 66, Brad Bryant 70 71 73, R.W. Eaks 72 73 69, Scott Hoch 76 70 68, John Morse 69 71 74, Rick Cloninger 68 74 72
215 David Edwards 72 70 73, Gary Hallberg 69 76 70, Mark James (Eng) 72 71 72, Don Pooley 70 74 71
216 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 70 74, Tom Purtzer 70 74 72
217 Rod Nuckolls 74 72 71, Gil Morgan 71 77 69, Loren Roberts 74 72 71, Hale Irwin 74 71 72, Doug Lacrosse 70 75 72, Billy null Rosinia 71 73 73
218 John Harris 72 75 71