PARKER — Hale Irwin is the Champions Tour’s all-time leader with 45 victories, and beginning next week, he will have another chance to make history. He turns 65 on Thursday. No player 65 or older has won a Champions Tour event.
“It would be significant, sure,” said Irwin, who is tied for 58th after a 2-over par 74 on Saturday. “I had to get people past the ‘over-55’ (hurdle). Now I’ll try to do that. I’m hitting good shots. . . . But between the ears, it’s a tornado.
“I just have to settle everything down. I thought I had some traction the last couple of weeks, but I’m starting to slip again.”
Heads up.
Tee times for today will be different. The threesomes go off two tees, Nos. 1 and 10, starting at 8:40 a.m. Gates will open at 6:30.
Saturday’s broadcast on NBC was cut off at 4 p.m. and the leaders, who teed off at 11:15 a.m., were still on No. 16.
Bourne identity.
Nancy Bourne of Highlands Ranch has a strong connection to this year’s Senior PGA Championship. Whoever wins the title this afternoon will hoist a sizable trophy named after her grandfather, Alfred S. Bourne, who donated it to the PGA of America in 1937.
Nancy Bourne, 66, had never seen the actual trophy until Saturday, when she came to Colorado Golf Club. Today, she’ll be featured with the prize when NBC begins its final-round coverage.
Kinder course.
While some at the top succumbed to the pressure and afternoon gusts, overall the 7,490-yard layout played more than two strokes easier Saturday than it did during the first two rounds. David Frost set a course record with a 7-under 65.
“I was on the practice green,” third-round co-leader Jay Don Blake said, “and I think I saw Frosty come up from 15. He didn’t play the last three (holes), I don’t think.”
Wrong way.
Former Green Gables head pro Ron Vlosich can joke that, if nothing else, he is consistent. Vlosich’s three rounds are 75-76-77.
“(The gallery) was great,” Vlosich said Saturday. “I saw a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time, a lot of my friends from Green Gables. It was really nice to see all those people.”
Memorable first.
Blake and Chien Soon Lu are bidding to become the eighth player to make the Senior PGA Championship his first Champions Tour win. Those who have done it: Arnold Palmer (1980), Tom Wargo (1993), Doug Tewell (2000), Fuzzy Zoeller (2002), Mike Reid (2005), Denis Watson (2007) and Michael Allen (2009).
Tom Kensler and Anthony Cotton, The Denver Post
