Keith Horne Tops Crowded Leaderboard Heading into Final Round of the Senior PGA Championship

BRADENTON, Fla. – Keith Horne and Thammanoon Sriroj were paired together during Saturday’s third round of the Senior PGA Championship, the sixth-to-last grouping of the day.

Who would have thought they’d be paired together in Sunday’s final round? In the final pairing?

Horne, a 54-year-old South African, and Sriroj, a 56-year-old Thai, turned The Concession Golf Club upside down Saturday with runs up the leaderboard nobody saw coming. Sriroj made a double bogey and an eagle on par-5s on the front nine.

LEADERBOARD: Check out all scores after Round 2 at The Concession

He was just getting started. He then went on a ridiculous run of six birdies in seven holes, celebrating each birdie as if he’d just won the U.S. Open.

Horne’s round was more conventional – he thrice made two birdies in a row – for a 6-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Sriroj (66) at 11-under 205.

Who saw this coming?

Not Horne, who has nine wins on the Sunshine Tour and two victories on the Legends Tour.

“Of course, I’m surprised,” Horne said. “It’s such a strong field, and we don’t get to play against so many stars like this often. I was pretty nervous when I started and that didn’t go away all day.”

Not Sriroj, who has five victories on the Asian Tour and three wins on the Japan PGA Senior Tour Victories. After opening with a 67, he said he would be thrilled to make the cut.

“If I win, I might pass out,” Sriroj said through an interpreter.

Now we know why they call Saturday moving day. Sriroj moved up 10 spots on the leaderboard, Horne nine.

But this is far from a two-man race to lift the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy, especially with the wind picking up at The Concession. There are 10 players within three shots of the lead.

Stewart Cink (70), Steve Allan (68) and Scott Hend (72) are tied for second with Sriroj at 10-under. Ben Crane (71) is at 9-under, a shot ahead of World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh (67), Greg Owen (68), Brian Gay (74) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (68), who made a hole-in-one with a 7-iron on the 168-yard sixth hole for his 16th career ace.

“It helps there’s a lot of people in there,” said Cink, who has three wins in his last five starts on the PGA TOUR Champions. “I have to putt better than I did today. It’s going to take a really good round tomorrow.”

But the weather conditions will play a larger role than they have all week. It’s supposed to blow between 10-to-15 mph from a different direction.

“It’s one of those courses where you may not need that low of a score,” Allan said. “Just keep your head down and play hard.”

But all eyes, at least to start the final round, will be on the Horne-Sriroj pairing. It’s a comfortable grouping because they have played together the last two decades in Asia.

Horne says Sriroj has plenty of game to accomplish what would be a career-changing win.

“He’s a magnificent putter,” Horne said. “Like most Thai players, he has a phenomenal short game. And he’s a lovely guy. We’re just trying to keep things upbeat being in positions we’re not used to. We enjoyed each other’s company.”

It’s easy to enjoy Sriroj’s celebration antics after a birdie, which he had plenty to offer Saturday.

“I want to entertain the spectators,” Sriroj said. “If I have fun, I play well.”

Ten players within three shots, including two unknowns at the top. It should be entertaining.

Justin Hicks Leads Race for Low PGA of America Golf Professional

Justin Hicks shot a steady even-par 72 Saturday to move into a 14th-place tie entering Sunday’s final round of the Senior PGA Championship.

Hicks had three birdies and three bogeys on a day when the wind picked up at The Concession Golf Club. Hicks, a PGA Teaching Professional at Stonebridge Country Club in Boca Raton, has a six-shot lead over Omar Uresti in the race for Low PGA of America Golf Professional.

Hicks opened with rounds of 69 and 69 while playing in his first senior major.

Here are where the other nine PGA Professionals who made the cut stand going into the final round:

Omar Uresti (T42, 72-216); Alan Morin (T64, 77-220), Steve Holmes (T64, 74-220), Tracy Phillips (T64, 74-220), Jeffrey Schmid (T67, 75-221), Jeff Martin (T67, 76-221), Mick Smith (T73, 77-223), John Pillar (T73, 77-223) and Bob Sowards (T73, 78-223).

Frazar matches low round: Harrison Frazar wasn’t happy with his warmup session Saturday, but he was thrilled with the 7-under 65 he fired in the third round of the Senior PGA Championship at The Concession Golf Club.

He made two eagles and four birdies against a lone bogey to match Scott Hend for the low round of the week.

“I had a terrible session on the range, so I went out there focusing on hitting fairways and greens and not making big mistakes,” Frazar said. “I bogeyed 4, but hit it close at 6 and eagled 7 from 20 feet, and that kind of kickstarted my round.”

Frazar’s second eagle came at the par-4 12th, where the tees have been moved up more than 70 yards to make it drivable. “I thought they had moved them up too far,” Frazar said. “It’s only 245-250 to the front of the green.”

Frazar hit a 2-iron hybrid to 20 feet and made the putt. He added a birdie on the devilish 18th hole to move up 40 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 14th at 6-under 210.

“It's a precise golf course,” he said. “You have very small sections to hit the ball.”