Irwin’s third straight 68 puts him on top

Hale Irwin has plenty of company on the leaderboard, and he has his competitors right where he wants them.

Irwin moved closer to his 11th career major victory, shooting a third straight 4-under 68 Saturday for a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Senior Players Championship in Dearborn, Mich.

He has won 28 of 37 events on the 50-and-over tour when he led or shared the lead entering the final round.

“I think success breeds success,” Irwin said, “and confidence breeds confidence.”

Still dominant more than a month after turning 60, Irwin moved to 12 under, a stroke ahead of Dana Quigley (72), Gil Morgan (67) and Tom McKnight (70).

Don Pooley (65) is two shots back, and Peter Jacobsen (71), David Eger (65) and Doug Tewell (65) trail by three.

Tom Watson (70), Gary McCord (69) and Ron Streck (72), coming off his first Champions Tour victory last week, are among five players tied at 8 under.

Irwin has won seven senior majors and three U.S. Opens. His last major was the Senior PGA last year, and he can tie Jack Nicklaus’ record for senior majors with a win today.

Quigley acknowledged it will be difficult to keep up with Irwin in the final round at the TPC at Michigan, where 12 will start within four shots of the lead.

“You have the big man with the lead, maybe he’ll get nervous with me and McKnight behind him,” Quigley said, joking.

Irwin, the Champions Tour’s career money leader, has eight top-10 finishes in the last 10 Senior Players tournaments, and he matched the course record of 21 under when he won in 1999.

The Senior Players is the first of three straight majors, followed by the Senior British in two weeks at Royal Aberdeen and the U.S. Senior Open the following week in Ohio.

PGA Tour

J.L. Lewis has the lead – and the attention – all to himself in the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.

Lewis shot a 2-under 69, extending his lead to three strokes at 15-under 198 after three rounds at the TPC at Deere Run.

Hank Kuehne (67), Richard S. Johnson (68) and Craig Bowden (68) were 12 under, and Jeff Brehaut (66) and Robert Damron (69) followed at 11 under.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever won from the front on a tour event,” said Lewis, who won a playoff in the 1999 tournament at Oakwood Country Club and came from seven shots back to win the 84 Lumber Classic in 2003.

“I don’t really consider it a lead because if you go out there and you don’t play well, they’re going to blow right by you,” he added. “I was surprised somebody didn’t do it today. I figured I’d have to shoot 3 or 4 under just to stay where I’m at.”

Lewis led after the second round, too, but few outside his immediate family probably noticed amid the Michelle Wie mania. The 15-year-old from Hawaii was on the brink of becoming the first woman in 60 years to make a cut on the PGA Tour, but she fell apart in the last four holes and missed by two strokes.

“I thought it was phenomenal,” Lewis said. “She’s only 15 years old. Where were you guys when you were 15 years old? I was about 5-foot-6 and weighed about 120 pounds. I’m looking at her going, ‘Geez, she’s great.’ I was hoping she’d make the cut.”

Instead, Wie was headed to Ohio for the men’s U.S. Amateur Public Links next week.

Kuehne made a late run, shooting 4 under over his last six holes. He almost had a fifth birdie, too, but the ball stopped less than 6 inches from the cup on No. 18.

“I’m going to have to go out there and make four, five, six birdies tomorrow and play a solid round,” Lewis said. “You’ve got to give yourself a chance.”

LPGA Tour

After parring 11 holes in a row, Hee-Won Han rolled in birdie putts on two of the last three holes to cap a 5-under 66 for a two-stroke lead through three rounds of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

Han, who started the day a shot behind Beth Daniel, was at 11-under 202.

To pick up her fourth career win, Han will have to hold off fellow South Korean Jeong Jang, who shot a 67 to reach 9 under. Defending champion Meg Mallon and 50-year-old Marilyn Lovander – winless in 180 career LPGA Tour starts – were 8 under after 68s. Leta Lindley was alone in fifth place at 7 under after a 68.

The 48-year-old Daniel had a double bogey on the last hole to shoot a 73. Trying to break her own mark as the oldest ever to win an LPGA event, she’s at 208.

Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, is at 5-over 218 after shooting a 75.