BEACHWOOD, Ohio — After failing to win in 271 PGA Tour events, Michael Allen figures he’s due.
Getting a fresh start in his senior debut, Allen shot a 3-under-par 67 on Saturday for a one-shot lead over Jeff Sluman and Tom Kite through three rounds of the Senior PGA Championship.
“These guys are great players and they have beaten me for a long time, but maybe it’s my turn,” said Allen, who stands at 3-under 207 through 54 holes.
Allen, who turned 50 in January, is an unlikely leader in the Champions Tour’s first major championship of the year. He swore he won’t be shaken by the major champions and perennial winners who are chasing him.
“I’m certainly not intimidated. I guess when you’re 50 you kind of lose some of that,” he said. “Out here, I played with most all these guys for years and I know them all pretty well. If there’s any intimidation, I’m more intimidated by the factors of winning tournaments than I am playing with the guys.”
Sluman had the lead to himself before bogeying the 16th and 18th holes, completing a 70 that left him tied with Kite, who bogeyed the final two holes for a 69.
Sabbatini, Mallinger tied
IRVING, Texas — Rory Sabbatini has already won at Hogan’s Alley. Now he shares the lead going into the final round at Byron Nelson’s tourney.
“Anything associated with his name would be an absolute honor,” Sabbatini said after shooting a 5-under 65 to keep a share of the lead at the Byron Nelson Championship.
Two years after his last victory — at the Colonial, where Ben Hogan’s larger-than-life statue is prominent — Sab- batini is in position to win again after five birdies in a seven-hole stretch.
Sabbatini and John Mallinger, who entered the third round tied as co-leaders, both shot 65 to get to 13-under 197. That is two strokes ahead of three other players.
Footnotes.
On an amazing day of scoring, 19-year-old Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato shot a 10-under 62 to tie Soo-Yun Kang (65) of South Korea at 17-under 199 after three rounds of the LPGA Corning (N.Y.) Classic.
They were one shot ahead of 20-year-old Yani Tseng of South Korea, who also shot 10-under.
• England’s Paul Casey shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 to stretch his lead to three strokes after the third round of the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, Eng- land.
The Associated Press
