COLORADO SPRINGS — Here is how focused and precise Eduardo Romero has his golf game entering today’s final round of the U.S. Senior Open:
Whenever possible, the affable Argentine said he picks out a tree on Cheyenne Mountain for his aiming point from the tee box. What’s that? A mile away? Two miles? From that distance they look more like green specks to most of us.
“Yes, I mean on the mountain,” Romero said Saturday after taking a two-stroke lead with a 5-under-par 65.
Romero was asked if something might be jumbled in translation and whether he really meant he sets his sights on a tree behind each green at Broadmoor East.
“No, no, a tree on the mountain,” he insisted. “That’s the line there. Boom, go there. I’ll show you tomorrow.”
It’s no wonder Romero, 54, one of the big hitters on the Champions Tour, said he feels so confident right now. With his hot streak, he should be. In his previous two starts, Romero won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open on July 6 and placed third at the British Senior Open two weeks later.
Second-round leader Fred Funk, joining Romero as the only players to shoot under par for all three rounds, got around in 1-under 69 but couldn’t keep up. Funk begins today at 203, two strokes behind Romero’s 9-under 201. John Cook tied a U.S. Senior Open nine-hole record with a 30 on the back en route to a 66 and made it a three-player race to the finish, sitting at 204.
“My game is very good,” Romero said. “They have to play good to beat me.”
Finishing with seven birdies against two bogeys, Romero doesn’t take much time over the ball before swinging, much like 2007 U.S. Open champ Angel Cabrera, whom Romero helped sponsor on the European Tour a decade ago. And like his younger countryman, Ro-mero can pound it off the tee. He needed only a lob wedge into the green on many par 4s.
When Romero figures he had better favor accuracy, he reaches for a 15-degree hybrid club which he can blister “295, 300 yards sometimes.”
Playing with Funk in the final group, he got Funk’s attention right away by opening with three straight birdies, narrowly missing a 10-footer for eagle on No. 3. Trailing Funk by two shots entering the third round, Romero pulled even at minus-9 on the demanding No. 11 when he birdied the 478-yard par 4 with a 5-iron to within 5 feet — “Fantastic, fantastic,” he said — while Funk missed the fairway off the tee and bogeyed, a two-shot swing.
Romero took the lead for good on the next hole when Funk missed the green on the par-3 No. 12 and bogeyed. Funk played the more difficult back nine in 3-over 37. Romero was four shots better with a 1-under 33, and Cook charged with his record-matching 30.
Funk had made the turn in 4-under 32 and then fell into a funk, as he put it.
“I did what you can’t do on this golf course and that’s not control the golf ball,” he said of missing fairways down the stretch. “But I still had a ball out there.”
Forget about Romero getting confused by the elevation factor. His hometown, Cordoba, rests against a mountain. He was runner-up to Davis Love III in the 1990 International at Castle Pines.
“Eduardo plays this type of golf well,” Cook said. “He has some serious length.”
Cook, runner-up last week at the British Senior Open when he blew a three-stroke lead with eight holes to play, had to overcome a double bogey at No. 6. He fell back to minus-1 after going from rough to rougher when his drive disappeared into the thick stuff and then his punch-out second shot crisscrossed the fairway.
Playing two groups ahead, Cook reached the No. 10 tee box standing eight strokes off the lead. He threw darts at flagsticks and begins today just three shots behind Romero. Cook knows how to play at elevation. He won the 1987 International.
“I like to know where I stand all the time,” Cook said of chasing Romero and Funk up the leaderboard. “If you want a chance to win, you’ve got to know.”
Players took advantage of better scoring conditions Saturday after the USGA, perhaps hearing the chorus of complaints from players Friday, softened the greens with extra water and stuck pins in friendlier locations.
Qualifier Jeff Klein of Scottsbluff, Neb., also tied the Senior Open nine-hole record of 30. Klein and 1987 U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson each sizzled in the heat for a 64.
“The pins were more accessible, but they were still tough,” Greg Norman said after his 2-under 68.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Bests: Big move at Broadmoor
Start.
Jeff Klein was in the early groups Saturday but will tee off later today after a 6-under-par effort on the front nine helped move him up 29 spots to fifth overall. He opened with three birdies, then had three pars before three more birdies to make the turn at 30.
Aim.
John Cook put “five or six” approach shots within 10 feet of the cup on the back nine to finish at 4-under 30 and move up to third overall at 6-under.
Advantage.
With a switch to the front tees on No. 3, which played the first two rounds at 601 yards, there were five eagles Saturday as the downhill par-5 played at 560 yards.
David Krause, The Denver Post
Worsts: Kite fades on final holes
Finish.
After picking up three strokes on the first four holes, Tom Kite had 10 straight pars but lost four strokes on the last four holes, including a double bogey on No. 17.
Feeling.
Bruce Fleisher will not make any money today after advancing to the weekend. He did not sign his card before leaving the scorer’s tent Saturday and was disqualified.
Accuracy.
Steve Bowen hit just 3-of-14 fairways en route to an 8-over-par 78 on Saturday. He averaged 295.0 yards off the tee.
David Krause, The Denver Post
Hole of the day: 239-yard, par-3 12th
At the southern-most point on the course, the long downhill provided a big swing Saturday for the leaders. John Cook made his move on the back with a birdie, but Fred Funk lost the lead with a bogey. He and Eduardo Romero were tied at 9-under when Funk hit a 5-iron and “whiffed it into the stuff.” After a solid chip, he missed his par putt. The hole ranks as the second-toughest on the course this week; players have hit the green only 29.7 percent of the time.
David Krause, The Denver Post
