McCullough Eyes a Major Breakthrough

Mike McCullough figures he just has to keep doing what he’s already done three times to win his first major.

He shot a five-under-par 67 Saturday at Dearborn, Mich., to reach 12-under and take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Senior Players Championship, the fourth and final Senior PGA Tour major. McCullough is the only player to break 70 in every round.

Hubert Green shot one-under one day after tying the course record with a 63 and beginning the third round with a three-stroke lead. Green, who will begin today one stroke behind McCullough, knows it wouldn’t be wise to just focus on beating McCullough because the TPC of Michigan is susceptible to low scores.

“If I worry about Mike McCullough and he shoots 73, and somebody shoots a 64, we’re going to be looking at each other and not making a big check,” Green said.

Stewart Ginn is alone in third at eight-under after shooting 70.

Two-time champion Raymond Floyd, who had the best day with a 65, is at seven-under along with Doug Tewell, Larry Nelson and first-round leader Hale Irwin. Irwin hasn’t broken par since setting nine-hole and first-round records on Thursday. Jim Thorpe is at six-under with Bob Murphy.

McCullough, who never won a tournament on the PGA Tour, won the Mexico Senior Classic and the Emerald Coast Classic last year. His best finish this season has been a tie for second at the BellSouth Senior Classic last month and he has three other top-10 finishes.

Defending champion Allen Doyle shot a 69 and trails by eight shots along with Fuzzy Zoeller and three others.

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Jeff Sluman fired an eight-under-par 63 to take a two-stroke lead over Steve Lowery (64) after three rounds at the Greater Milwaukee Open.

Sluman also was the leader after 54 holes last year only to shoot a one-over 72 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 10th. This time, thanks to his 54-hole GMO record 193 total, he’s within range of the tournament record of 24-under. Loren Roberts carded a 260 in 2000.

Sluman said he’s playing some of the best golf of his 20-year PGA Tour career.

“Scoring-wise, this is pretty close,” he said.

Kirk Triplett, who began the day tied with Sluman and Tommy Armour III atop the leaderboard, shot a four-under 67 and is alone in third place four strokes back. Armour shot an even-par 71, falling eight strokes back.

Greg Chalmers (65) is five strokes behind in fourth place, and Tim Herron (65) is in fifth, trailing by six strokes. J.P. Hayes, of Appleton, Wis., fired a 63 to move to 10-under and a tie for sixth with David Peoples (67). Hayes finished with a tournament record seven-under 28 on the front nine.

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Fredrik Jacobson had the lead in the Scottish Open, just not the margin he wanted, after a par 71 at Luss, Scotland, that let at least 10 players back into the tournament.

Jacobson started the third round with a four-stroke lead. After making a five-foot par putt on the final hole, his lead was down to one over Eduardo Romero of Argentina, and nine other players were within four shots. Jacobson is at 11-under 202.

Sandy Lyle, playing in the final group on the weekend for the first time in 10 years, watched his hopes vanish by taking two double bogeys on the back nine. On both holes, he took four shots to get down from 20 feet. The former Masters and British Open champion finished with a 75 and fell eight behind.

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Karrie Webb, who has won as many LPGA Tour events as Beth Bauer has played, shot a five-under 66 to share the lead with the rookie after the third round of the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic at Sylvania, Ohio.

Webb, with 27 wins in her seven-year career, jumped from being just another name on the leaderboard to the top spot with a string of four birdies on the back nine. For good measure, she hit a wedge to six inches on the par-five closing hole--prompting the largest roar of the day from the gallery. When she tapped in for birdie, she had the lead to herself for the first time.

One of the brightest young players on the tour, Bauer started the day two shots behind Laura Diaz and tied for second place. Bauer completed a 67 to match Webb at 10-under 203.

Rachel Teske, one of Webb’s rivals back in their amateur days in Australia, shot a 64 to move a shot back at 204. Heather Bowie had a 66 and was at 205. First-round leader Diaz and Kelli Kuehne were at 206.

Kris Tschetter, tied for second after shooting 65 in the first round, was disqualified when she didn’t have her playing partner, Jeanne-Marie Busuttil, sign her scorecard.