Roberts Charges Into Lead

Just call him Mr. Saturday.

Loren Roberts -- who a week ago in the U.S. Senior Open set a record for the lowest 18-hole score in a USGA Open championship -- charged to the lead of another Champions Tour major Saturday, shooting an eight-under-par 64 at the Senior Players Championship.

Roberts birdied the first two holes and the last three at Dearborn, Mich., to take a two-stroke lead over Lonnie Nielsen heading into today’s final round of the third of five majors on the tour schedule.

Just as he did last Saturday, Roberts carded eight birdies and no bogeys en route to a round of eight under, but his round last week was accomplished at the par-70 Prairie Dunes layout in Kansas.

The heavy rain that caused play to be halted on Friday softened the fairways and greens at the 7,069-yard, par-72 TPC of Michigan, and Roberts took full advantage.

“I had the putter working, just like last Saturday,” said Roberts, who is 14 under for the tournament. “The greens here are so good that if you get the ball on line, it’s going to go in.”

Nielsen shot a 66 and will be paired with Roberts today.

“I’ve never done this before, so I’m a little out of my element,” said Nielsen, a New York state club professional who never has finished in the top 10 at a Champions Tour major.

Brad Bryant and Dana Quigley share third place at 11 under.

Joe Ozaki, who shared the lead after tearing up the course Friday with a record-tying eight consecutive birdies, shot a 73 on Saturday and was seven under for the tournament.

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John Senden took the lead and the spotlight at the John Deere Classic, one day after Michelle Wie withdrew because of heat exhaustion.

With temperatures in the 90s, Senden shot a seven-under 64 and was 16 under through three rounds at Silvis, Ill.

Heath Slocum and Patrick Sheehan were three back at 13 under. Second-round leader Joe Ogilvie, Alex Cejka, Steve Jones, J.P. Hayes and Daniel Chopra were 12 under.

In a four-way tie for second and one shot off the lead through two rounds, Senden birdied the first two holes and seven in all. He saved par on No. 17 after his tee shot sailed to the right and landed beyond a walkway.

Slocum and Sheehan shot 66. Cejka, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, carded a 64.

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Natalie Gulbis birdied her final hole to pull into a three-way tie for the lead before play was suspended late in the third round of the storm-plagued Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Sylvania, Ohio.

Gulbis, seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, birdied the par-five 17th to tie Reilley Rankin and Mi Hyun Kim at 12 under. Kim also birdied the 17th just before play was stopped. Rankin completed 16 holes.

Paula Creamer and Se Ri Pak were a shot back, and Annika Sorenstam also made a birdie putt on her last hole -- the 15th -- to pull within four shots of the leaders. Pak is trying to match Mickey Wright’s LPGA Tour record of five victories in one event. Play was stopped at 8 p.m. to afford course workers some daylight.

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Thomas Bjorn made a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole to tie Darren Clarke for the third-round lead in the Scottish Open at Luss.

Bjorn shot a five-under 66 and Clarke, a three-stroke overnight leader, had a 71 for an 11-under 202 total.

Ernie Els shot 67 to move within four strokes of the leaders. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman (66) is another stroke back. So is Colin Montgomerie, who shot 69.

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Former University of Nevada player Casey Watabu won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, beating Oklahoma’s Anthony Kim, 4 and 3, in the 36-hole final at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

The Public Links champion gets a Masters invitation.