PARKER — After rounds of even-par 72 and 1-over 73 in the opening two days of the Senior PGA Championship, Mark O’Meara said he felt Colorado Golf Club played tougher during Saturday’s third round.
But somehow, the former major champion managed to scrape his way around in a 5-under 67, in the process moving from a tie for 17th into a tie for third, just two strokes behind co-leaders Tom Lehman and Jay Don Blake.
Perhaps the physical and mental challenge presented this week has the players feeling down even in the best of times.
When he moved to the top of the leaderboard after Friday’s second round, Fred Couples said it felt like “it took a day” to get around the 7,490-yard course.
But O’Meara’s opinion aside, the reality was that Saturday indeed represented the players’ best chance at some upward mobility.
On Friday, only three players, Couples, Blake and Tom Kite, managed to break 70. On Saturday, there were seven.
For the day, the average score for the field was 73.40. While that was still over par, it was easily better than Thursday’s 75.71 or Friday’s 75.98.
Highland Ranch product Bill Loeffler made the weekend cut right on the plus-7 number, for example, after shooting a second-round 82. On Saturday, he was 13 strokes better at 3-under 69. That moved him up 39 spots, from a tie for 69th to a tie for 30th, the biggest move of the day. Loeffler credited his move to better putting.
David Frost said he gained an advantage from watching Tom Watson on the practice range before the start of the third round.
Strengthening his grip on the club with his left hand, Frost moved from a tournament also-ran into contention. After starting the day a full 12 shots behind Couples, Frost finished in a tie for ninth, just four strokes from the top following his course-record, 7-under 65.
“More than likely, guys don’t shoot two low rounds in a row on the weekend after making a big comeback on Saturday, but who knows?” Frost said. “You just go out there and you have nothing to lose, just play my game.”
Frost said his round Saturday compared favorably with another 65 that also set a course record, during the third round of the 2005 British Open, which was played at St. Andrews in Scotland. That particular score was lost amid the hubbub of a five-shot victory by Tiger Woods.
“No one spoke to me about it afterward. I was way back in the pack,” Frost said. “I beat Tiger three of four rounds, but my (second round) 77, that was a flat tire out there.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
