Senior Open Championship: Round 3 Notes
 
Jul. 28, 2007

If recent history holds true, third-round leader Stewart Ginn has some odds working in his favor going into Sunday's final round. Since it became an official event in 2003, the third-round leader has won three of four titles, including the last three. The lone exception came in 2003 when the 54-hole leader, Carl Mason, lost in a playoff with Tom Watson at Turnberry. In the following years Pete Oakley, Watson and Loren Roberts all went on to capture the title.

ginn.200.jpg
Stewart Ginn is looking for his second Champions Tour major. (AP)

Ginn is no stranger to winning a major title in senior golf. He won the Champions Tour's 2002 Ford Senior Players Championship near Detroit by one stroke over Jim Thorpe, Hubert Green and Mike McCullough. Ginn made up four strokes the final day with a 6-under-par 66 to earn the top prize and check for $375,000.

Ginn made 141 starts on the Champions Tour from 2000-07 and earned $3,268,568 with 22 top-10 finishes.

Ginn is also bidding to join his fellow countryman Ian Stanley (2001) as a Senior British Open winner from Australia.

The winner of Sunday's event will receive 650 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race based on double points being awarded in major championships this year. Brad Bryant is the current leader with 2,019 points, followed by Jay Haas with 1,907. Loren Roberts (1,408), Denis Watson (1,276) and R.W. Eaks (966) round out the top five. All but Eaks, who is not playing in this event, remain in the field.

Can the odd year again be the charm for Tom Watson? A two-time winner in this tournament, Watson won titles in 2003 and 2005.

Cool, windy conditions prevailed again on Saturday with occasional afternoon showers. Winds were variable and speeds ranged from 15-25 mph with higher gusts.

England's Dennis Durnian made the second hole-in-one in this year's tournament when he aced No. 4. Durnian used a 6-iron on the 213-yard hole. Earlier, Jon Chaffee made a hole-in-one on No. 13 in the opening round. Durnian won 213 bottles of Hardys Wine for his effort. It was his second career ace on the European Seniors Tour.

The opening hole once again proved to be a headache for the 77 remaining players in the field. One day after just one player made a birdie (Tim Simpson) not a single player was able to make a birdie in the blustery conditions on Saturday. The field scoring average was 5.169 (+1.169 over par); a jump from Friday's average of 5.043 (+1.043). Saturday's round included 16 pars, 39 bogeys, 16 double bogeys and seven triple or higher. The two-day total is 107 bogeys, 37 doubles, and 19 triples and higher. The hole ranked as the most difficult hole again on Saturday.

The field averaged 75.470 on Saturday and only three players finished with sub-par scores -- Stewart Ginn (-2), Tom Watson (-1) and Mark O'Meara (-1).

Two current players in the top 20 have the chance to post their third straight top-10 finish in a major championship this year. Denis Watson, who won the Senior PGA Championship and was T5 at the U.S. Senior Open, is currently T9, while Jay Haas (T5 at the U.S. Senior Open, T9 at Senior PGA Championship), and is currently T16. Haas also came into this event with six straight top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour.

Second-round leader Des Smyth shot a 6-over-par 77 on Saturday and will begin Sunday's final round T11 where he is joined by Nick Faldo and defending champion Loren Roberts. The trio all trail by seven strokes.

John Ross has had the best showing among the open qualifiers. Ross, who open qualified on Monday at North Berwick with an even-par 71, is currently T11 after 54 holes.

Southpaw Bob Charles got off to a rocky start with a triple bogey seven at No. 1, but the 71-year-old rallied to finish even par the remainder of the way, finishing at 74.

Mark O'Meara (3rd) and Nick Faldo (T11) will be bidding to match Gary Player, Tom Watson and Bob Charles with British Open and Senior British Open titles.