Mark Calcavecchia, Joe Daley lead Constellation Senior Players through three rounds
50 feet separated Mark Calcavecchia from a tie for the lead and clear momentum for the fourth day of the Constellation Senior Players.
The putt would drop and Calcavecchia secured his spot atop the leaderboard at 12 under par along with Joe Daley.
“Capping the day with a 50-footer on the last hole always helps,” Calcavecchia said. “It always makes dinner taste a little bit better. … All in all, I thought I played great.”
Calcavecchia, the winner of the Montreal Championship last week shot a six under par 64 tying him for the lowest round of the day.
Daley is known most for making a five-foot putt in 2000 at Q-School only to have the ball pop back onto the green. Daley would miss his PGA Tour card by one stroke.
Now Daley has just eclipsed 10 starts on the Champions Tour and got into the tournament by finishing 66th on the Constellation Senior Players points list. Earlier in the season, Daley finished tied for fourth place at the 2012 Senior PGA Championship.
Now Daley who entered the third round one stroke back of Fred Couples is tied for the lead.
“This is a great opportunity for me,” Daley said. “When you stay on that positive forward can-do page, things happen and it’s good.”
The day proved troublesome for defending champion and second round leader Fred Couples.
Couples was playing with Tom Lehman and Daley when he hit his second shot of the second hole and felt a rush of pain go towards his much troubled back.
“I feel very badly for him and have a lot of empathy for him,” Lehman said. “He’s the kind of guy that would never really talk much about it, but he hit a shot on the second hole and I think he almost went to his knees. And I think he really struggled the rest of the day.”
Despite the immense pain, Couples shot an even par 70 to trail the co-leaders by one stroke. Despite the injury, Couples has a positive outlook as he prepares for the final round of the tournament.
“I just was really sore and couldn’t get loose, but at the same time I’m one behind, so I’m in great shape,” Couples said.
Also one back is Lehman after a third round 66.
Couples, Calcavecchia and Daley will comprise the final group of the Constellation Senior Players tomorrow at 12:21 PM. Lehman will tee off with Jeff Freeman who is at 10 under and Fred Funk who is at 9 under at 12:10 PM.
Inside the ropes:
Crenshaw ‘enjoying’ Raynor course
Ben Crenshaw may have been in the first group today, but just the thrill of seeing him walk up to the 18th green was enough to excite a gallery member to follow his third round.
The tournament itself has not been great for Crenshaw. Crenshaw the two time Masters champion is currently tied for 75th place at 13 over par.
Crenshaw who has not won an individual title on the Champions Tour, shot a 1 over par 71 in the third round. He started the front nine at one under par on the round until a rough stretch closing the front nine. He parred every hole on the back nine despite issues with his driver.
“I played better today. I could have had a few better shots. This is my first time at Fox Chapel. I’m shooting very high and not playing very well, but I don’t know that I’ve ever enjoyed a course more.”
Why is he enjoying himself despite his play this week?
It has to do with the designer of Fox Chapel Golf Club Seth Raynor.
“I’ve always heard great things about Fox Chapel and one of the reasons I came is because of the designer [Raynor]. I’ve kind of made it a point to play almost every Seth Raynor course. Every one of them is so much fun and enjoyable. I enjoy studying architecture myself but I really have enjoyed this week.”
A major confidence booster for Chapman
Just more than one month ago, Roger Chapman got his first Champions Tour win. It wasn’t just any win though, but rather the Senior PGA Championship, the first of five majors on tour.
The win, which Chapman won wire to wire, added to Chapman’s confidence and has spread onto the course after a third round 66 left him in a tie for eighth place.
“To do what I did at Harbor Shores and now get a 12 month exemption playing with these guys is a huge thing,” Chapman said. “I was just having breakfast this morning and Tom Watson comes up and says ‘hey Roger how are you doing’. It’s such a friendly tour and they made me feel very welcome and I’m really enjoying it.”
66 represents Chapman’s best round of the tournament and he considers himself fortunate to post the score that he did.
“I got off to a lucky start. Hit my tee shot on the first hole in the rough, came up short and then hit a putt that was going 20 feet by on these greens and it hit the middle of the hole and went in. I sort of just hung on.”
Wiebe puts together solid round one putt at a time:
At four over par on the tournament, Mark Wiebe took a different approach into his round and relied on one particular club to help him out.
“I had a miserable putting day yesterday so I was really focusing on my putting.”
The result? A six under par 64 to put Wiebe at two under par for the tournament.
64 was the low round of the day and was also shot by Calcavecchia, Funk and Brad Bryant.
Palmer ‘disappointed’ he can’t play more golf:
Arnold Palmer was on the course today to announce an endowment in his father’s name in partnership with The First Tee. After meeting with the program, Palmer talked to the media and one of the questions posed was about how much he gets to golf. Here was his response:
“I’m not playing much golf,” Palmer said. “I’m disappointed that I can’t and do not play much. I hit balls occasionally and every once in a while I might go out and get back into it but it just isn’t as much fun for me as it once was.”
They said it: ‘without question’ we want to come back and play in Pittsburgh
All of the players I talked to really liked the golf course and want to come back to Pittsburgh. With rumors floating around that the tournament may come back to Pittsburgh for at least the next couple of years, I asked the players about their thought on coming back and play Fox Chapel Golf Club again.
Ben Crenshaw: “Personally, I’d love to, you bet. It’s a privilege to play.”
Loren Roberts: “Yes without question. This is a fabulous golf course and it is a masterpiece. You look at the green complexions and you don’t see this anymore.”
Mark Wiebe: “I would love that. A lot of us would love to play here again, for sure.”
They said it: Pittsburgh ‘the city of champions’
In addition to the golf course, players really like the atmosphere that Pittsburgh provides.
Ben Crenshaw: “Well they’ve always been great sports fans, but very keen golf fans. I know people follow golf very closely here. It was fun to be here this week.”
Loren Roberts: “Great, great fans. The last time I was really here was the 1994 Open in Oakmont. Great golf fans and they have some great classical golf courses around this city too. It’s a great sports town, you’ve got everything.”
Tom Watson: “It’s the city of champions. You’ve got all kinds of great athletic teams in this city and let’s get a major champion on the Champions Tour out here.”
Roger Chapman:
“… great golf course, great people and great weather. What more could you ask for?”