GOLF / PGA SENIORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP : Mowry Falls Apart, Shoots 85; Floyd Survives to Take Lead

The comedy of errors billed as the PGA Seniors’ Championship continued Saturday on the Champion course at PGA National Resort.

Larry Mowry, the co-leader after 36 holes, didn’t merely collapse, he scuttled the ship. He shot a 13-over-par 85 and needed a birdie on 18 to do it.

From the best score on Friday, Mowry soared to the worst in the third round.

He not only left the top of the leader board, he dropped to 44th place, seven over par.

Even the leader, Raymond Floyd, had trouble, finding the water on the 11th hole. But Floyd shot his third consecutive 69 for a 54-hole total of 207 and a two-stroke lead over Lee Trevino.

Trevino was five under for 10 holes and had a two-shot lead before the treacherous back nine caught up with him. Trevino finished with a 70. Another shot back is Dave Stockton, who had a 71. Consistent Dale Douglass is again in contention at five-under 211.

Stockton, who had a quadruple-bogey eight on the 16th hole on Friday, was tied for the lead when trouble struck again on the 17th. He hit a four-iron barely into the water on the 152-yard par three and decided to hit it out.

It’s a shot he doesn’t practice and it was obvious. He hit a sand wedge, the ball flew out of the water, cleared the crowd and was deep in the rough. He wound up with a double bogey.

The way leaders keep floundering on the back nine, it seems likely the winner will be the player who holds up the best down the stretch.

The odds again favor Floyd, who is establishing himself as the best player on the Senior PGA Tour. Not only does he have a two-shot lead, but he has survived the back nine better than Trevino or Stockton. In three rounds, Floyd is three under par on the back nine. Even with an eight and a six, Stockton is even on those holes, and so is Trevino.

“Make no mistake about it, with the wind blowing like it is, the last nine holes are some test,” said Floyd, in position to win his second consecutive senior major. “No lead seems to be safe. I can’t believe those two relatively short par threes (15 and 17) can be so difficult.

Trevino said he is putting better than he has in some time, though he had a double bogey on the 422-yard 14th and two bogeys on the back nine.

“The only way I can beat Raymond (today) is not to make any mistakes,” Trevino said. “I made some today. No. 14 isn’t an easy hole for me. I tried to cut a three-wood off the tee and wound up with a downhill lie in a fairway bunker. Instead of playing it smart with an eight-iron, I tried to reach the green with a three. The ball hit the lip and came back. Instead of a par or a bogey, I had a double.”

Mowry, who won five senior events before vertigo almost ended his career, said his problems Saturday might have been partly because it had been five years since he was in contention in a major event.

“I feel fine physically, and found a flaw in my swing,” he said, “but I was a little nervous because of the situation.”

His nervousness wasn’t helped by what happened on the first hole. Mowry’s second shot stopped five feet below the cup, and Floyd ended up in a sand trap. Floyd knocked in his sand-trap shot for a birdie, and then Mowry missed his short putt. Mowry parred the first four holes, but after hitting his five-iron on the 171-yard fifth hole into the water, he fell apart, going 14 over par in the next 13 holes, then getting one back with a birdie at the 18th.

Golf Notes

Freddie Haas, 78, is playing in his record 27th PGA Seniors’ Championship, an event he won the first time he played in it in 1966. After shooting a 34 on the first nine Friday, he made the cut with rounds of 76, 77, to become the oldest to make the cut in a PGA event. He had an 83 Saturday. . . . One of the reasons Dave Stockton is so popular with fellow pros is his willingness to help them. At the practice range Friday, he spotted a flaw in Gary Player’s swing. “He noticed I was too crouched up,” Player said, “and playing the ball off my heel. I made the adjustment and I am hitting the ball much better. Wasn’t that a nice thing for Dave to do?”