Hale Irwin moves into lead with 68

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, shooting a third straight 4-under 68 Saturday for a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Ford Senior Players Championship.

He has won 28 of 37 events on the Champions 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 of 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 Championship last year, and he can tie Jack Nicklaus' record for senior majors with a win on Sunday.

Irwin insisted he didn't pay attention to the leaderboard during the third round.

"I don't know if I'm in the lead," Irwin said. "You tell me."

Quigley acknowledged it will be difficult to keep up with Irwin in the final round at the Tournament Players Club of 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 Ford Senior Players Championships, and he matched the course record of 21 under when he won in 1999.

After victories in January and February, Irwin hasn't finished better than sixth while struggling with his putting and sore back.

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

Irwin said his bad back will prevent him from making the trip to Scotland.

Quigley might also stay home, even though it would end his playing streak.

Slowed by a hip ailment, he is playing his 264th consecutive tournament and the 278th straight that he's been eligible for since 1997.

A bird gave Quigley almost as much trouble as his hip.

Throughout the third round, players were trying to dodge a red-winged blackbird trying to protect its nest along the fifth hole.

Quigley didn't get out of the way, getting pecked on the head.

"I actually had to see if it broke the skin," Quigley said. "I'm going to get that bird on Sunday."

Morgan, a 23-time winner on the Champions Tour and seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, has three top-10 finishes this year.

"It's going to take a low score to stay close to the lead, so there's a little more pressure to put a good number out there," said Morgan, who won the Ford Senior Players Championship in 1998.

McKnight, a Champions Tour rookie, has only one top-10 finish this year. He never played regularly on the PGA Tour, though he played in the 1999 U.S. Open and Masters after finishing second in the U.S. Amateur the previous year, after beating Sergio Garcia.

"It's really a dream come true for me to be out here and have this opportunity," McKnight said.

If McKnight wins Sunday, he will be the third straight rookie to win the event.

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