10 things to know from 2019 Senior PGA Championship Thursday

BROADHURST’S GAME IS CLEAN AND MEAN

With a three-day total of 204, Paul Broadhurst has a 2-shot lead after three rounds of the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Broadhurst, the Defending Champion, will take a string of 38 consecutive bogey-free holes (his last bogey came on No. 16 on Thursday) into Sunday's final round. Broadhurst is in search of his third senior major championship since joining the PGA Tour Champions in 2016.
 
Broadhurst -- vying for his second consecutive Alfred S. Bourne Trophy -- is on hallowed ground for defending champions, as Curtis Strange finished his back-to-back script on the East Course during the 1989 U.S. Open (he won the 1988 U.S. Open at The Country Club). Broadhurst's experience includes a successful title defense, as he won the Portuguese Open in both 2005 and '06 on two different golf courses.
 
While Broadhurst hopes to become the seventh repeat KitchenAid Senior PGA Champion, to date, six player s have won this Championship in consecutive years: Colin Montgomerie (2014, '15), Hale Irwin (1996, '97, '98), Sam Snead (twice: 1972, '73; '64, '65), Paul Runyan (1961, '62), Al Watrous (1950, '51) and Eddie Williams (1942, '45, '46/no Championships from 1943-44 due to WWII).
 
PERFECT 10

Paul Broadhurst birdied the 429-yard 10th hole each of the last three days. Broadhurst has accounted for three of the 34 birdies posted this week on No. 10, which is known by the membership as "Council Grove."
 
PAR FOR THE COURSE FOR BROADHURST

Fifty-four-hole leader Broadhurst is the only player to post par-or-better scores in each of the first three rounds (70-67-67).
 
THE GOOSE IS LURKING

Two-time U.S. Open Champion (2001, ’04) Retief Goosen is in contention to win his third career major and what would be his first senior major. A pair of 67s and a round-two 72 position the South African alone in second place, two strokes back of Broadhurst.
 
Twenty-five players have claimed the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship title on their first try; the 50-year-old Goosen is seeking to become the 26th.
 
KEN'S A COMIN'

Alone in third place with a three-day total of 207, Ken Tanigawa matched the low round of the Championship on Saturday, a 4-under-par 66. The previous 66s were registered by Corey Pavin (Saturday) and Scott Parel (Thursday).
 
McCARRON’S LURKING (AND HE’S BRINGING HIS MAJOR)

Eleven players are within 9 shots of the Championship's 54-hole leader, Paul Broadhurst, but among them, only one has won a senior major championship: Scott McCarron (2017 Senior Players Championship). The other 10 are in search of their initial major on the PGA Tour Champions.
 
IN THE MIX, AGAIN

Through each of the 15 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship rounds Scott McCarron has played, he has been positioned outside the top seven just twice: following the first rounds in 2016 (T-30) and this week (T-42). McCarron owns finishes of T-7 (2016), T-5 (2017) and T-3 (2018) in his three appearances.
 
SOUTHERN OHIO’S BOB SOWARDS KEEPS PATIENT, POSTS 71 TO LEAD PGA CLUB PROFESSIONALS AFTER 54 HOLES IN THE 80TH KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Bob Sowards has felt the brunt of rugged Oak Hill Country Club twice before in competition. The “blows” landed a decade apart when he competed on the famed East Course in the 2003 and 2013 PGA Championships.
 
On Saturday, Sowards, the PGA Director of Instruction at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Powell, Ohio, didn’t let personal history on the property affect his game plan in the 80th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. He posted a 1-over-par 71 for a 54-hole total of 5-over-par 215. That gave him a three-stroke margin over Mark Brown of Oyster Bay, New York (72-218) and Mike Miles of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (74-218), in a bid for Low Club Professional honors.
 
Other contenders chasing the trio are Chad Proehl of Urbandale, Iowa, (74-221) Stuart Smith of Reno, Nevada, who each had a 74 and 223.
 
Omar Uresti of Austin, Texas, (78-224), Jared Melson of Tullahoma, Tennessee (75-224) and Mark Mielke of Atlantis, Florida, (77-226) rounded out an eight-member PGA Club Professional delegation playing the weekend.    
 
The Championship concludes Sunday with the Low Club Professional hoisting a crystal cup. The trio are among the 35 PGA Club Professionals that earned a berth in the most historic and prestigious championship in senior golf.
 
Sowards, 50, is attempting to cap a special debut season in the senior ranks. The 2004 PGA Professional Champion is the reigning PGA Senior PGA Professional Champion and Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year.
 
After two rounds of shaky putting, Sowards found his extra work on the practice green Friday afternoon paid dividends – especially at the 17th hole.
 
“I hit it left there after two perfect drives there the first two days,” said Sowards. ”This time I ended up behind a tree and had to wedge out. I still had 113 to the hole and hit a mediocre shot in there about 25 feet. I made the putt for par, which is the longest putt I've made all week.
 
“I felt like I putted really well today, just didn't make everything, obviously. But combine that with good ball striking on the back, I was pretty pleased.”
 
Brown, the PGA Head Professional at Tam O’Shanter Club in Brookville, New York, and Miles, the PGA Director of Instruction at The Oakbridge Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, are each making their third Championship appearances.
 
It was the second straight 72 for Brown, who finished tied for 73rd in the 2016 Championship.
 
“I didn't hit it very well today, but the short game is kind of keeping me in it,” said Brown. “I’m putting really well. That hole-out bunker shot the other day (Friday on the No. 9 hole) was kind of nice. But, just trying to, you know, hole by hole. One mistake today. I tried to go for a par 4 out of the rough, and I hit it in the water on No. 5. I probably should have laid it up. I didn't have a best lie. That's the only shot I'd take back.”
 
THIRD-ROUND PLAY SUSPENDED TWICE

Play in the 80th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship was suspended twice on Saturday. The first suspension occurred at 10:12 a.m. (ET) due to dangerous weather conditions. Play then resumed at 12:35 p.m. after a delay of 2:23. A second suspension was necessitated at 3:13 p.m., again due to dangerous weather conditions. Third-round play restarted for the final time at 3:53 p.m. In all, the two weather delays on Saturday at Oak Hill lasted a combined 3 hours and 3 minutes.
 
KITCHENAID FAIRWAY CLUB

Rochester’s PGA Junior League and Big Brothers Big Sisters kicked off Saturday morning in the KitchenAid Fairway Club. Local area kids competed in blender races and took selfies with the Alfred S. Bourne trophy before heading to the 13th hole for inside the ropes access. At 1 p.m., Iron Chef’s Alex Guarneschelli put on a great show during her live cooking demonstration. After that, the Oak Hill kitchen staff showed up to support Chef Christopher Roth during his demo.
 
Tomorrow, New York Kitchen takes the stage in the KitchenAid Fairway Club. Chefs Matt Wooster and Mary Beth Brinkerhoff will take the stage at 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. Fans have one last chance to enter to win the $4,999 KitchenAid Shopping Spree tomorrow! Ticket holders can stop by any ‘Win with KitchenAid’ location to enter.