Thompson takes over lead

Tom Watson, a winless this year on the Senior PGA Tour, says he doesn't look back at his amazing career.

But for a few holes today, Watson happily took everyone back to his championship days with a feat he had never accomplished.

"I've had some pretty good play and streaks, and some pretty good putting streaks,'' said Watson, who had six straight birdies on the back nine and stood two strokes off the lead at the IR Senior Tour Championship. "And I made six birdies in a row, which is the most I've ever made. So there's a first for Watson here."

It's hard to think that one of golf's greatest with eight majors hadn't ever had a better stretch before.

"I've been 8-under after 10 and 7-under after eight, but I've never had six in a row,'' Watson said.

And it brought to life a Grand Strand gallery and season-ending golf tournament that needed a kick of personality.

Leonard Thompson, who grabbed the lead at 14-under with his second straight 66, was asked if Watson's awakening worried him for Sunday.

"He's only won, what, 12 majors, $42 million? Why would he have an advantage? He's one of the best players ever,'' Thompson said with a bit of sarcasm. "I've always said if you're going to win a golf tournament, why not win when the best are there? And he is one of the best, one of the best who has ever been.''

Watson's round began unspectacularly with nine pars and a 10th-hole bogey.

"I decided it was now or never,'' said Watson, who has finished second four times in 12 events this year after picking up his only Senior PGA Tour victory late last year. "I thought, 'Let me see if I can run the table on the back nine,' and I almost did.''

Thompson's two-putt birdie on the 18th got him out of a tie with John Jacobs, who shot a 68 and was second at 13 under.

"I don't know if you say he's got an advantage because he's Tom Watson,'' Jacobs said. "He's got an advantage because he's a hell of a golfer.''

It's been hard to prove it his first senior season. Watson earned $781,361, 20th on the list. He's lost twice in playoffs and most of the time has been a spectator.

"I don't have any delusions about my game,'' Watson said.

But with today's run, he looked the grinning young star who whipped Jack Nicklaus head-to-head at the 1982 U.S. Open.

It began at No. 11 when he hit the pin on a wedge approach shot and knocked in the 4-foot birdie.

"That kind of got the gong rolling,'' Watson said.

He dribbled in a 7-foot birdie on the next hole and a 12-footer on the par-3 13th. He hit back-to-back 18-foot putts on Nos. 15-16 to finish the spurt.

"I made some long putts and that's not bad with old eyes and the shadows,'' he said.

Watson gave the crowd a rush at the 18th, landing a 3-wood just off the back of the par-5, 538-yard in two. But he stubbed his chip and came up short on a 15-foot birdie try.

Thompson, a former Myrtle Beach resident, played a steady round to move to the front. He began with two birdies to catch second-round leader Jose Maria Canizares and then picked his spots on the new Tournament Players Club at Myrtle Beach.

He birdied the 16th from 8 feet, then two-putted the 18th for birdie after hitting on in 2.

"This would be special for me because it's one of the biggest ones we play and one I've been pointing to,'' Thompson said. "I didn't point enough to the big tournaments. I wish I had learned that 35 years ago instead of when I was 50.''

Jacobs also made few mistakes in shooting a 68. Birdies on the 14th and 15th holes gave him the lead before Thompson, his playing partner, passed by.

Jacobs didn't think he was all that sharp "because I was up about five hours last night looking at the Racing Form.'' As he left the interview room, he asked when the Breeders' Cup was going to start so he could watch ``the race I put most of my money on.''

Watson wasn't the only ex-PGA Tour star to make a third-round run. Hubert Green had a 68 and was three shots behind Thompson. Ray Floyd, a two-time Senior Tour Championship winner, had a 66 and was tied with Canizares four shots off the lead.

Al Geiberger, known as "Mr. 59,'' for being the first golfer to break 60 in tournament play, won the Super Seniors Championships for competitors 60-and-over. He beat Jim Albus on the second playoff hole to win $139,000, his best check as a pro.

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