Round 3 Notes: Senior Open Championship

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Weather: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid-60s and winds from the NW at 8-12 mph.

• Current Leaderboard: T1 -- Mark Calcavecchia/Russ Cochran/David Frost (-7); T4 -- Barry Lane/Corey Pavin (-6); T6 -- Chip Beck/Mike Goodes/Lee Rinker (-5).

SENIOR BRITISH

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Leaders discuss race

• For the third consecutive day, three players are tied for the lead at the 2011 Senior British Open. Mark Calcavecchia, an 18- and 36-hole co-leader, birdied the last hole to move into a tie with David Frost and Russ Cochran. Calcavecchia appeared to be seizing control of the championship after three birdies on the first 11 holes moved him to 10-under and a three-stroke lead. However, a wayward tee shot at the par-4 13th was followed by a second shot from the heather rough into an unplayable lie. He eventually made triple-bogey and his advantage was quickly erased. Frost's 6-under 66, the only bogey-free round of the day and Saturday's low score, vaulted him up 16 spots into a tie for the lead. Cochran, making just his second start on the Champions Tour since recovering from a right wrist injury in mid-April, started the day five strokes off the pace and made seven birdies in his first 11 holes. He ended up with a 5-under 67 for a share of the top spot.

• This marks the first time since the 2003 Ford Senior Players Championship that three players are tied for the 54-hole lead in a major championship. Mike McCullough, Craig Stadler and Tom Watson were all tied for the top spot that year after three rounds at TPC Michigan.

• Calcavecchia is searching for his first victory on the Champions Tour and if he wins tomorrow, he would become just the fourth player to claim a British Open and Senior British Open in a career (Gary Player, Bob Charles, Tom Watson). Calcavecchia won the 1989 British Open at Troon in Scotland.

• Earlier this year at the Champions Tour's first major championship, the Regions Tradition, Mark Calcavecchia held a one-stroke lead after 54 holes at Shoal Creek and ended up T5 after a final-round 75.

• The 54-hole leader/co-leader has gone on to win four times in the last eight years at the Senior British Open, but only once in the last four years -- Bernhard Langer (2010). Three-time Senior Open Championship winner Tom Watson shot 69 today and trails by three strokes entering the final round at Walton Heath. In 2003, Watson came from three back on the final day to win at Turnberry, defeating Carl Mason in a playoff.

• Russ Cochran will play in the final grouping for the third time this year. Cochran was in the last group at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and finished T4 in Hawaii. He was also in the final grouping at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am and finished T3. This will be David Frost's second time in the final grouping in 2011. Frost played in the last group at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic and finished T2.

• Russ Cochran finished T3 at last year's Senior British Open at Carnoustie and was also third at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open. David Frost's best finish in a senior major came last year at the Senior PGA Championship when he lost in a playoff to Tom Lehman.

• The last 54-hole leader/co-leader to win a major championship on the Champions Tour was Bernhard Langer at last year's U.S. Senior Open near Seattle.

• Saturday leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win only four of the previous 14 events on the 2011 Champions Tour and it hasn't happened since April when John Cook led by one stroke going into the final round of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am and eventually won in a playoff.

• The winner of this event will certainly get a boost in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race, with this being the first of three major championships offering double points out of the next four tournaments on the Champions Tour schedule. The Senior Open champion will receive 631 points based on the first-place check of $315,600. The Charles Schwab Cup is designed to recognize the Champions Tour's leading player. The program rewards both top finishes and week-in/week-out consistency at all official/Charles Schwab Cup events.

• Close finishes have become the norm in this championship since it became an official event in 2003. There have been five playoffs, and the three others were decided by one stroke including Bernhard Langer one-shot triumph over Corey Pavin last year. Loren Roberts owns two wins in playoffs (2006 and 2009) as does Tom Watson (2003 and 2005). Overall, there have been nine playoffs in the 24-year history of the tournament.

• The previous 24 Senior British Open Championships have been won by players from 10 different countries. England's Neil Coles (1987), South Africans Gary Player (1988, 1990 and 1997), Bob Verwey (1991) and John Fourie (1992), New Zealand's Sir Bob Charles (1989 and 1993), Americans Tom Watson (2003, 2005 and 2007), Tom Wargo (1994), Pete Oakley (2004), Loren Roberts (2006 and 2009) and Bruce Vaughan (2008). Other winners were Scotland's Brian Barnes (1995-96), Brian Huggett of Wales (1998), Christy O'Connor, Jr. of Ireland (1999-2000), Australian Ian Stanley (2001), Japan's Noboru Sugai (2002) and Germany's Bernhard Langer (2010).

• Defending champion Bernhard Langer shot 3-under 69 today and moved up into a T18 after three rounds.

• England's Barry Lane (-6) and Mike Goodes (-5) are the only players in the field with three straight sub-par scores at Walton Heath.

• Michael Allen had the only eagle of the day at the par-4 11th hole.

• Through three rounds, the hardest hole has been the par-4 14th, playing to a stroke average of 4.39. The hole has yielded just 23 birdies.

• The stroke average for the field at Walton Heath today was 73.48 (front nine -- 35.94, back nine -- 37.54)