Ross Drummond falls out of lead

in US Senior PGA Championship

Ross Drummond and Sam Torrance were among the higher scorers in the third round of the United States Senior PGA Championship at Canterbury Golf Club, Beachwood, Ohio.

Halfway leader Drummond dropped down to a share of 16th place after taking 37 putts - 13 more than in his second-round 66 - for a 76 and a two-over-par tally of 212.

Drummond, pictured right, can still claim he has no Europeans ahead of him in the star-studded (well, over-50s stars) field.

Englishman Mark James is on the same 212 mark with scores of 69 71 and 72.

Sam Torrance was going along nicely at the 36-hole mark after rounds of 70 and 71. But a third-round 80 plummeted him to joint 69th place on 221.

American Michael Allen, winless in 271 US PGA Tour events, shot a three-under-par 67 for a one-shot lead over Jeff Sluman and Tom Kite with 18 holes to go.

Allen, who turned 50 in January, is making his senior debut and finds himself atop the leaderboard in the tour’s first major championship of the year. He stands at 3-under 207 through 54 holes.

Sluman had the lead to himself before bogeying the 16th and 18th holes, completing a 70 that tied him with Kite, who shot a 69.

Larry Mize (71), Gil Morgan (70) and Tim Simpson (68) are another shot back at 209. Joey Sindelar (69), Bruce Fleisher (69) and Jay Don Blake (71) are three shots off the lead.

Allen, who turned pro in 1984, deliberated whether to play in this week’s Byron Nelson event on the US PGA Tour or to make his first foray on the senior tour. So far, it’s been a wise decision.

His 66 in the second round matched the lowest of the day, and his 67 on Saturday was again the lowest in the field.

Through the first three rounds, Allen leads the field by hitting 76 percent of greens in regulation. The key has been accuracy off the tee — he’s driven into the fairway on 31 of 36 chances.

He has won tournaments as a professional before, taking the 1998 Nike Greater Austin Open and the 1989 Bell’s Scottish Open.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS

Par 210 (3x70) 6,895yd.
1. Michael Allen 74-66-67--207
2. Tom Kite 69-70-69--208
2. Jeff Sluman 70-68-70--208
4. Tim Simpson 70-71-68--209
4. Gil Morgan 71-68-70--209
4. Larry Mize 69-69-71--209
7. Bruce Fleisher 71-70-69--210
7. Joey Sindelar 69-72-69--210
7. Jay Don Blake 70-69-71--210
10. Don Pooley 74-69-68--211
10. Fred Funk 71-71-69--211
10. Joe Ozaki 75-67-69--211
10. Mark McNulty 72-69-70--211
10. Chris Starkjohann 71-68-72--211
10. Bernhard Langer 68-70-73--211
16. James Mason 71-73-68--212
16. Mark James 69-71-72--212
16. Tom Purtzer 66-72-74--212
16. Ross Drummond 70-66-76--212
20. Jay Haas 71-74-68--213
20. Eduardo Romero 73-72-68--213
22. Tom Watson 72-72-70--214
22. James Blair 71-72-71--214
22. Kiyoshi Murota 73-71-70--214
22. Gary Hallberg 69-74-71--214
22. Keith Fergus 73-69-72--214
22. Russ Cochran 70-71-73--214
22. Dan Forsman 70-70-74--214
22. Scott Hoch 66-72-76--214
30. Loren Roberts 73-74-68--215
30. Ron Streck 73-74-68--215
30. Mark O'Meara 76-70-69--215
30. Bill Britton 75-70-70--215
30. Walter Hall 72-73-70--215
30. Dave Stockton 70-73-72--215
30. Roger Chapman 74-68-73--215
30. John Cook 73-69-73--215
30. John Morse 69-72-74--215
39. Jeff Roth 74-73-69--216
39. John Harris 72-74-70--216
39. Bob Gilder 71-74-71--216
39. Gene Jones 75-69-72--216
43. Hal Sutton 71-76-70--217
43. Costantino Rocca 72-75-70--217
43. Bob Tway 75-72-70--217
43. Mike Goodes 75-71-71--217
43. Hale Irwin 70-74-73--217
43. Tom Lehman75-68-74--217
43. Wayne Grady 71-72-74--217
50. Bobby Wadkins 75-71-72--218
50. Andy Bean 74-72-72--218
50. Bob Cameron 72-73-73--218
50. Mike Reid 74-71-73--218
50. Kirk Hanefeld 75-70-73--218
50. Lonnie Nielsen 76-69-73--218
50. Greg Norman 73-72-73--218
50. Ian Woosnam 71-72-75--218
50. Brad Bryant 73-67-78--218
59. Tom Wargo 74-73-72--219
59. Bill Longmuir 77-70-72--219
59. Allen Doyle 72-74-73--219
59. Mark Wiebe 72-73-74--219
59. Robert Gibbons 71-73-75--219
59. John Jacobs 70-73-76--219
65. Vicente Fernandez 76-71-73--220
65. Juan Quiros 72-75-73--220
65. Chip Beck 73-73-74--220
65. Tom McKnight 72-73-75--220
69. Mike Smith 75-71-75--221
69. Dana Quigley 69-75-77--221
69. Sam Torrance 70-71-80--221
72. Jim White 74-73-75--222
72. Ken Green 72-74-76--222
72. Ronnie Black 75-71-76--222
75. Jim Woodward72-75-76--223
76. Fred Gibson 73-74-78--225
77. Jon Fiedler 72-74-80--226