Maggert, Langer share U.S. Senior Open lead

Jun 28, 2015 - 12:39 AM Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Jeff Maggert and Bernhard Langer both bogeyed the 18th hole Saturday to fall to 5-under-par 205, where they share the lead at the U.S. Senior Open Championship.

Maggert, who was one of three second-round co-leaders, managed an even-par 70, while Langer carded a 2-under 68 in round three at Del Paso Country Club. They stand one stroke clear of eight players.

Defending champion Colin Montgomerie also managed a 70 on Saturday. He was joined in third place at minus-4 by Woody Austin (69), Fred Funk (68), Kenny Perry (64), Grant Waite (69), Tom Watson (71), Scott Dunlap (68) and Jim Carter (70).

Peter Fowler, who shared the second-round lead with Maggert and Watson, tripped to a 2-over 72. He stands alongside Kevin Sutherland (70), Duffy Waldorf (68), Miguel Angel Jimenez (67), Barry Lane (69) and Bart Bryant (71) at 3-under-par 207.

Watson had the early lead at 6-under thanks to a birdie at the first. After a trio of pars, he faltered to three bogeys in a 4-hole span from the fifth.

Langer birdied the first, but gave that right back as he tripped to a bogey at the second. He ran off eight straight pars from the third.

The 2010 champion caught fire as he poured in three consecutive birdie chances from the 11th to jump into a share of the lead with Carter at 6-under. Langer parred four straight before scrambling to a bogey at the last.

"I missed a number of chances early on. Actually, played pretty solid and then got three in a row, almost four in a row. It's too bad I finished with a bogey, but I didn't do it on purpose (of course)," Langer said. "It's always nice being in the last group because you know what you have to do in case you're in the hunt. It's really bunched up, there's probably 20 guys that still have a good chance, maybe more."

Maggert fell off the pace early as he stumbled to bogeys at three and five. He got one stroke back with a birdie on No. 6. Maggert carded seven straight pars from the seventh.

The Regions Tradition winner joined Langer at minus-6 thanks to birdies at the 14th and 15th. After a pair of pars, Maggert tripped to a bogey at the last to fall to 5-under.

"I played pretty steady today. Obviously, the bad tee shot on 18 kind of penalized me, but the last three holes are tough and you just try to gut it out. I played pretty good today, I drove the ball well," said Maggert. "I missed the fairway on 16 and 18, and they were really the only two bad tee shots. Just a couple missed short putts early in the round, other than that, I just played real steady and I finally made a few putts on the back nine."

Watson, Langer, Carter and Maggert were among nine separate players that had at least a piece of the lead during round three.

NOTES: Langer, who has five major titles on the Champions Tour, won the Senior Players Championship two weeks ago in wire-to-wire fashion ... Langer has won 16 of the 27 times he owned at least a piece of the lead heading into the final round on the Champions Tour ... Perry's 64 was the low round of the week, and his back-nine 28 matched the low nine-hole score in championship history ... Waite is the only player with three rounds in the 60s.