SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The crammed leaderboard at the U.S. Senior Open has some familiar faces heading into the final round and one notable name nobody expected to challenge for another major.

Good luck predicting what will happen Sunday.

Bernhard Langer and Jeff Maggert shared the lead at 5-under 205 at Del Paso, where conditions cooled off Saturday after consecutive days above 100 degrees. But the competition remained hot, with eight players one shot off the lead, including 65-year-old Tom Watson and defending champion Colin Montgomerie.

“It’s like a horse race,” Watson said. “Getting close to the wire.”

Langer shot a 2-under 68, and Maggert had a 70.

Watson, who was tied with Maggert and Peter Fowler through 36 holes, salvaged a 71 after making a 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole that sent the gallery into a roar. Montgomerie had a 70, and Kenny Perry surged into contention with a 64.

The trio was joined by Fred Funk (68), Grant Waite (69), Scott Dunlap (68), Woody Austin (69) and Jim Carter (70). Fowler shot a 72 and was among six players at 3 under.

“The only way to separate yourself is by playing great golf,” said Langer, who should feel comfortable in this position.

Langer and Montgomerie have combined to win six of the previous seven senior major championships. Maggert had the other victory during that stretch earlier this year at The Tradition, where Perry won in 2014.

“I’m kind of getting sick of seeing them, actually, especially on top of the leaderboard,” Maggert said. “But it does seem to be a pretty constant theme out there.”

The lone contender nobody saw coming is the Hall of Famer who has made a career of winning on golf’s biggest stages.

It’s just been a while.

Watson, an eight-time major champion on the PGA Tour, is decades past his prime. He’s is trying to become the oldest winner of the event, the oldest to win a senior major and the oldest to win on the Champions Tour.

“I don’t know what that will require me to do, but I hope that I’m within a body length of the leader – if there’s a leader out there,” Watson said.

Each leader took a different route through 54 holes.

Nobody more than Perry, who came out of nowhere with six birdies on his front nine – tying a nine-hole event record with a 28 – and before shooting par on his back nine. Perry, who began the day seven shots off the lead, was so far out of contention he started his round on the back nine under the split-tee setup.

“I felt like I was playing a round of golf with my buddies. Just very relaxing, didn’t have much spectators,” Perry said.

Now he’ll try to complete another huge comeback in this championship in front of a crowd.

Perry rallied from 10 strokes behind after 36 holes to win the 2013 U.S. Senior Open in scorching heat at Omaha Country Club. He turned in finals rounds of 64 and 63 for a five-stroke victory.

“I know I did it once. Hopefully, I can do it a second time,” Perry said.

Montgomerie shot 2 under on his front nine before giving it back after the turn. Maggert made three birdies and three bogeys, including on the 18th for a chance to take sole possession of the lead. And Langer looked comfortable again with his usual caddie, Terry Holt, back on the bag for him.

Holt sat out the first two days recovering from a reaction to a spider bite on his leg. Bobby Siravo, a Del Paso member and former professional golfer, caddied for Langer on Thursday and Friday.

Langer’s long putter carried him again, including a 25-foot birdie on No. 13. But his approach on the 18th landed in the long, lush rough below the green, and he missed an 8-foot putt to save par.

Even still, Langer has been as good as anybody on the Champions Tour in this spot.

The 57-year-old German won his second straight Senior Players Championship two weeks ago. And he has won five senior majors, which is tied for fifth most.

Just don’t call him – or anybody – a favorite Sunday.

“You’ve got to try and avoid mistakes and make some putts and hit some incredible shots,” Langer said. “It’s the only way to really separate yourself.”

Canadian Stephen Ames posted a two-over-par 72 in the third round.

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Thornhill, Ontario’s Ben Silverman birdied the 18^th hole for a 3-under 69 on Saturday at Fort McMurray Golf Club to take a 1-shot lead into the final round of the Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON, the third event of the 2015 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

Entering the day with a two-shot lead, the 27-year old posted five birdies to offset two bogeys, reaching 16-under after hitting his approach within five feet on the final hole of the day and converting the putt to lead by one over Longwood, Florida’s Sam Ryder and two over Airdrie, Alberta’s Riley Fleming heading into Sunday.

“I like having the lead, but it was a little struggle early. I hit some wild tee shots and had some lucky breaks. I just kept telling myself I always wanted to see my name on the top of the leaderboard. That was the push, never to let anyone take me over,” said Silverman, a second year member on the Mackenzie Tour with two top-10 finishes to his name.

The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida resident has led or co-led after every round this week, having shared the opening round lead thanks to an 8-under 64 on Thursday. Silverman said seeing his name at the top of the leaderboard will be all the motivation he needs to keep the field at bay heading into the final round.

“Once I see my name on top, it’s motivation to keep it there, so I’ll be going in there with the attitude of making birdies and to keep pushing the envelope to get the scores lower and lower,” said Silverman, who is benefiting from some local knowledge this week thanks to caddie Brody Ellis, a 2-handicap who plays regularly at Fort McMurray Golf Club.

“He always knows where the prevailing winds are so I’m always asking him about that, and he knows the greens really well,” said Silverman. “He helps me out a lot, knowing it’s firm here or there, or it tends to funnel here. It helps a lot.”

Ryder, also a second year Mackenzie Tour member, matched the low round of the day with a 7-under 65, and said his game has been rounding into form just in time for this week.

“I had a good week with my coach, Adam Schriber, in Michigan to get ready for this week. I’ve been playing well. I’ve been swinging well and had a nice top-10 finish in Victoria, and I’m pretty confident right now,” said Ryder.

Two back of Silverman was Fleming, the fourth-youngest member of the Mackenzie Tour at 21, who carded a 3-under 69 and will join Silverman and Ryder in the final threesome on Sunday.

Morrison, who began the day one stroke behind Spain’s Cabrera-Bello, made six birdies and would be further ahead if not for a bogey on the final hole. He was at 16-under 200 heading into Sunday’s final round on the Eichenried Golf Club course.

“I played steady, didn’t really do too much wrong and nearly had a bogey-free round,” said Morrison, who can win his second European Tour event in as many months after claiming the Open de Espana in May.

“(There are) miles to go yet, especially on this golf course,” the 30-year-old Morrison said. “Anyone can win from any score. I mean you can shoot 63 in a heartbeat.”

Cabrera-Bello had five bogeys and finished with his third birdie for a round of 74 and share of eighth place.

Chris Paisley of England scored 66 to move into second on 14 under, one stroke ahead of Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (68) and two ahead of Sweden’s Peter Hanson (67).

“Never enjoyed a round of golf as much as today. So excited to go at it again tomorrow!” Paisley tweeted.

Spain’s Carlos del Moral, compatriot Pablo Larrazabal, and Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey were tied for fifth, five strokes off the pace. Del Moral shot a 65 for the day’s best round.

After his frustrating round, Cabrera-Bello slipped level with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (68) and France’s Victor Dubuisson (67).

Home favorite and 2014 U.S. Open winner Martin Kaymer failed to make the halfway cut.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Bubba Watson shot a 3-under 67 on Friday to maintain a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Travelers Championship.

After opening with a 62 on Thursday, Watson had three birdies in a bogey-free round to enter weekend play at 11-under par.

Watson said a gusty north wind forced him to play more conservatively and perhaps think a bit more.

“Some of the holes were playing a little bit longer because of the wind,” he said. “The wind was in a different direction, so it just made the course a little bit tougher.”

The two-time Masters champion is trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner at TPC River Highlands since Peter Jacobsen in 2003.

Watson won his first PGA Tour title at the 2010 event and has finished in the top 20 five times in eight previous starts. He tied for sixth in 2008, tied for second in 2012, and finished fourth in 2013.

He was delayed in talking to the media Friday after being pulled for a random drug test, something he saw as a positive sign.

“I hope I passed it,” he joked. “It’s usually when you’re at the top of the leaderboard they want to drug test you, especially me.”

Brian Harman birdied two of his final three holes during an afternoon round of 65 to join Brian Stuard and Carl Pettersson at 9 under.

Stuard, who followed an opening 64 with a 67, pulled within a shot of Watson after back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16. But he bogeyed the 17th after hitting his second shot over the green and missing an 8-foot par putt. He then saved par on the 18th with a 19-foot putt.

“That was kind of a nice momentum-keeper going into the weekend,” he said.

Pettersson, started on the back nine at shot a 31 on those holes, before finishing with a 66.

The back nine was less affected by the wind than the front, where a headwind had several holes playing longer than their yardage.

Scott Brown had a double bogey on his first hole and posted a 38 on the front. But after making par on the 10th, he reeled off six straight birdies to finish with a 67. He was 8 under, tied for fifth place with Jason Gore and Chris Stroud, who is still looking for his first tour win after losing here in a playoff to Ken Duke in 2013.

“The back nine always plays a bit easier here anyway, so I knew there were going to be some opportunities out there,” Brown said. “So I just kind of hung in there. When my caddie said, `Let’s go get them on the back nine,’ that’s what we did.”

Nick Watney had the round of the day, shooting a bogey-free 64, with three birdies on each side of the course. Watney was at 7 under in a group that included New England native Keegan Bradley.

Thirty-three players were within six shots of the lead including Canadian Graham DeLaet, who sits at 11 under after two rounds and tied eighth.

Ernie Els, who shot a 66 in the opening round, bogeyed the first five holes and missed the cut after shooting a 76 to finished 2-over after 36 holes. Els, making his first appearance here since 2002, threw his club into the air in frustration after bogeying the 12th hole and hitting his tee shot on the 13th left and into the water guarding the green.

Others notable names who failed to make the cut include Stewart Cink (139), who has won this tournament twice; defending champion Kevin Streelman; four-time major champion Padraig Harrington (141), 2007 winner Hunter Mahan (141) and Louis Oosthuizen (142).

Representatives from the British Open brought the Claret Jug to display at the Travelers on Friday, as a reminder to players that four spots and as many as nine in that tournament are up for grabs this week.

The leading five players, not already exempt, from the top 20 in the FedEx Cup will be part of the field at St. Andrews next month.

In addition, the leading four players who finish in the top 12 at TPC River Highlands also will get spots. The Travelers is the first of three PGA Tour events where top finishers can get into St. Andrews. There are four spots available at The Greenbrier Classic, and one at the John Deere Classic.

“I’ve been in professional golf for 18 years now and I’ve never been to Europe,” Gore said. “So that just blows my mind. It blows a lot of people’s mind. Playing at St. Andrews would be a lot of fun, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

Other Canadians in the field Adam Hadwin, Roger Sloan, Nick Taylor, Jean-Philip Cornellier and Mike Weir did not make the cut to play the weekend.

ROGERS, Ark. – Azahara Munoz hasn’t been one to make excuses about her struggling golf game since surgery on her left hand to remove a benign tumor in March.

The Spaniard has, however, battled with confidence as her game has been slow in its return to form.

Following a much-needed week of practice and a mental reset of sorts, Munoz looked every bit like her 2010 LPGA Rookie of the Year self on Friday – shooting a 6-under 65 to earn a share of the clubhouse lead at the NW Arkansas Championship.

Munoz shared the clubhouse lead with Anna Nordqvist and Brittany Lincicome, though Mi Jung Hur was 8 under through 14 holes when play was suspended because of darkness.

Hur birdied her final five holes, hitting all but one green in regulation at the rain-hampered Pinnacle Country Club.

For Munoz, the round was her best in her seven tournaments following surgery.

“Last week, I finally said `This is it, it’s not going to happen again,'” Munoz said. “… I know I’m a good golfer, so eventually it’s going to come. Obviously, it’s going to take a little bit of time, but I know it’s going to come back.”

Friday’s round was delayed twice by strong storms and lightning, and 21 groups were unable to finish.

Lincicome and Nordqvist also shot 65s, and Na Yeon Choi also was 6 under after 14 holes. Ryann O’Toole finished with a 66, and Mariajo Uribe and Gerina Piller also were 5 under.

Top-ranked Inbee Park had a 69, and defending champion and local favorite Stacy Lewis was 4 under with three holes left.

While Park, who won her sixth major two weeks ago at the Women’s PGA Championship, struggled with her putter – needing 30 putts – Munoz needed only 27 putts.

It was her best round since taking six weeks off after surgery in March, after which she hasn’t finished higher than 30th. Prior to her surgery, Munoz finished no lower than 13th in her first four tournaments this year.

“It’s been a rough year; I was not having fun,” Munoz said. “This sounds stupid, but I almost felt that I was really unlucky that this happened to me … (It) was just six weeks, but for some reason I still go really down on myself.”

With her hand nearly feeling completely recovered on Friday following a setback-free week of practice, Munoz was at her best despite being delayed by almost four hours because of two weather delays. She was even par after a bogey on the par-4 fourth hole, but followed that with three straight birdies to close out the front nine.

Munoz then birdied three of her first five holes on the back nine to reach 6 under, nearly reaching 7 under when her 35-foot birdie attempt on the par-3 15th lipped out of the hole.

“It felt good, back to normal,” Munoz said.

Lincicome used three sand saves to help propel her to a bogey-free 65, while Nordqvist hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation while also posting a bogey-free round.

Lincicome reached 6 under following birdies on the seventh and eighth holes after beginning her round on the back nine, and her 15-foot birdie attempt which would have sent her to 7 under on the 9th came up inches short.

“Right when I hit it, I knew it wasn’t enough,” Lincicome said. “Especially when it’s on line, it’s kind of a bummer, but just happy to be finally done with the round.”

Canadian Rebecca Lee-Bentham posted a 2-under round of 69 today, while Alena Sharp shot 72. Sue Kim signed for a round of 74 and Jennifer Kirby shot 79.

HARRIS, Mich. – Four Winds Invitational Champion Brooke Henderson (Smiths Falls, Ontario) shot an opening round 70 in her first round as an official member of the Symetra Tour and currently sits in a tie for 18th at the Island Resort Championship.

“I didn’t play my best today,” Henderson admitted. “It was a little bit up-and-down. I started off with a bogey on the first hole but was able to bounce back and finish 2-under which I’m happy about. I still have a lot of work to do but I’m excited to be out here as an official member of the Symetra Tour and to compete against these players.”

Following her victory in South Bend, Henderson petitioned to waive the minimum age requirement and was granted Symetra Tour membership by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.

With her new membership, Henderson was able to get into the field this week based on her Category C status. The 17-year old has been taking advantage of the opportunity and enjoying her first event in the Upper Peninsula.

“The hospitality is top of the line for sure,” Henderson said. “It’s been an honor to be here the past couple of days. Great people and they’ve treated us like gold.”

After the first round four players – Dani Holmqvist (Stockholm, Sweden), Lee Lopez (Whittier, Calif.), Lauren Doughtie (Suffolk, Va.) and Giulia Molinaro (Treviso, Italy) – sit atop the leaderboard at 5-under-par.

“You never expect five under,” Molinaro said. “Today I think it’s as easy as it could get. There was no wind and perfect weather. I’m not surprised that there were some lower scores today.”

“I think it played very fair,” Holmqvist added. “If you hit a good shot you would get a pretty good result from it.”

The four at the top of the leaderboard sit a stroke clear of Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec, Canada), Ani Gulugian (Irvine, Calif.) and Annie Park (Levittown, N.Y.) who sit at 4-under. In total, there are 39 golfers within four strokes of the lead.

Second round play will begin off the first and tenth tees starting at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Tom Watson still gets quite a thrill seeing his name atop the leaderboard.

Maybe even more at age 65.

Watson withstood the scorching heat to shoot a 1-under 69 on Friday, finishing in a three-way tie atop the bunched leaderboard after the second round of the U.S. Senior Open.

“The illusion that I can still do it,” Watson said when asked what keeps him playing competitive golf. “I don’t have the tools in the toolbox I used to have. They’re missing. Some of the tools are missing. And so it’s getting more and more difficult for me to compete, but I still feel as if I can somehow get it done.”

Sure seems that way so far in Sacramento.

Watson was joined at 5 under for the championship by Jeff Maggert and Peter Fowler. Maggert shot a 65, and Fowler a 66 in their morning rounds.

But all the attention turned to the Hall of Famer heating up in the sizzling sunshine.

Watson made four birdies and three bogeys to provide the drama at sun-drenched Del Paso Country Club, where the temperature soared above 100 degrees again. Watson is trying to become the oldest winner of the event, the oldest to win a senior major and the oldest to win on the Champions Tour.

“To hit a shot under pressure that’s really a good golf shot is why I’m out here,” Watson said. “That’s what I like to do. And when I get to the point where I can’t do it or I can’t do it often enough to really satisfy myself, then I won’t be out here.”

It’s the fourth time Watson has held or shared the lead through 36 holes at the U.S. Senior Open. He has never won the event, which is in its 36th year.

A victory would be the exclamation point to his storied career.

Watson will play in his final British Open next month at St. Andrews. He’s the only man to claim the claret jug on five courses – but never at St. Andrews – and suddenly seems ready to be more than a feel-good story at the Old Course.

If he can sweat out the competition at Del Paso, Watson would be the oldest player to ever win such an event.

Allen Doyle was 57 when he won the U.S. Senior Open in 2006. Jock Hutchison was 62 when he won the Senior PGA Championship in 1947, and Mike Fetchick was 63 when he captured the Hilton Head Seniors Invitational in 1985.

“Not surprising. I don’t know what else to say about it,” said Rocco Mediate, who is at 2 under after a second-round 66. “He’s got very much control of his golf ball.”

Watson will have plenty of competition this weekend. Defending champion Colin Montgomerie (68), Bart Bryan (65) and Jim Carter (69) are all at 4 under, and several others are within striking distance.

The forecast highs are in the low 90s for Saturday and Sunday, with increasing wind. But neither the course nor the conditions have caused Watson much trouble.

In his opening round Thursday, Watson took advantage of the cooler morning conditions to shoot a 66. When he teed off Friday afternoon, the temperature was about 25 degrees warmer with almost no wind and climbed to 102 degrees in the afternoon.

“The heat wasn’t a big deal today. I was hydrated,” Watson said. “We kept in the shade most of the time, as much as we could. We played at a reasonably good pace.”

Watson controlled his irons, consistently found fairways and putted with precision. He birdied all three par 5s – laying up each time – but provided his most-crowd pleasing moment on the par-4 ninth.

Watson’s 20-foot putt stopped on the lip of the cup before falling in. That touched off the loudest roar of the week around the quant clubhouse, though Watson just straightened his shoulders and exhaled.

He stumbled a bit after the turn, with bogeys on the 10th and 13th. He got one shot back with a birdie putt from the fringe on the par-5 15th, raising his right hand in celebration.

Watson also saved par after hitting into the long, lush rough on No. 17, but he bogeyed on the 18th after his 10-foot putt stopped short – giving him something to think about heading into the weekend.

“I still have nerves,” Watson said. “If you don’t have nerves, you’re lying. The guys out here, if you’re playing in this competition, there’s an element of pressure that affects you. But the thing is I played under this type of pressure all my life.”

Stephen Ames posted a round of 71 today to sit T49 heading into the weekend. Canadian amateur Dave Bunker carded a 4-over 74 today but missed the 5-over cutline by two strokes. Also missing the cut was fellow Canadian Rick Gibson who turned in a second round 76.

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Thornhill, Ontario’s Ben Silverman carded a 5-under 67 on Friday at Fort McMurray Golf Club to take the 36-hole lead at the Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON, the third event of the 2015 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The 27-year old was bogey-free for the second consecutive day to reach 13-under after two rounds, two shots clear of Alberta natives Stuart Anderson and Riley Fleming and Germany’s Christopher Trunzer. Silverman, who opened with an 8-under 64 on Thursday, said Friday’s 67 in tricky, windier conditions was every bit as good as his hot start in round one.

“I’m very happy with both of them. Today was just a tougher grind to stay in it. Early on, I almost felt the round slipping away not being able to get some birdies, but I stayed in it mentally and kept grinding, and eventually it came around,” said Silverman, a second year member of the Mackenzie Tour.

Silverman recorded pars on each of his first seven holes before a two-putt birdie at the eighth got things going in the right direction, a critical shift in momentum according to the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida resident.

“I just kind of hung in there and finally made a birdie on 8 because I got it there in two,” said Silverman, admitting he had to re-focus after seeing Fleming post the clubhouse lead at 11-under. “Definitely today I caught myself thinking ‘Oh, Riley’s in the lead and I gotta go catch him,’ but I just tried to slow down and focus on one shot, and that’s what I’ve been working hard on.”

Silverman owns two top-10 finishes on the Mackenzie Tour and said he looks forward to the challenge of being chased by the field on the weekend.

“I like looking over at a board and seeing my name up top, because it pushes me harder to make more birdies,” said Silverman.

Earlier in the day, Fleming bounced back from an opening double bogey with seven birdies to reach 11-under, a number that was matched by Anderson, who grew up playing 54 holes a day as a junior at Fort McMurray Golf Club, along with Trunzer, who Monday Qualified into the event earlier this week.

“It was definitey a grind. The wind picked up, but the greens were perfect out there so I was able to make some putts,” said Fleming.

WICHITA, Kansas – South African Dawie van der Walt fired a 3-under 67 and moved into the clubhouse lead at the rain-delayed Web.com Tour’s Air Capital Classic presented by AETNA. The 32-year-old transplanted Texan is at 9-under 131 after two trips around the Crestview Country Club course, one better than Argentina’s Miguel Angel Carballo (65).

Overnight and early-morning storms caused a three-hour delay to the start of play Friday, which resulted in 24 players stuck on the course when darkness fell. That group will resume the second round at 7:30 CT Saturday morning.

Indiana’s Andy Winings is 4 under through 14 holes and currently at 8-under total. He will be among those returning to finish the second round.

Korea’s D.H. Lee (69) leads a group of five players who share fourth place at 7-under 133. Nebraska’s Scott Gutschewski (66), Floridian Brett Stegmaier (66), Monday qualifier Matt Mabrey (66) and first-round leader Seamus Power of Ireland (70) are all two off the pace.

“I’m just trying to do my own thing and not worry too much about the leaderboard,” said van der Walt, who won the Chile Classic earlier this year and is No. 13 on the Web.com Tour’s money list. “I’ve got a number in my head that I want to get to, and that’s all I can do and worry about. I can’t worry about what the other guys are doing.”

The former Lamar Cardinal has the same number in his head every week, regardless of where he’s playing.

“First, make the cut and then shoot 10-under on the weekend,” he said. “Every weekend, my target is always 10-under. I should be in pretty good shape if I can do that.”

His closest pursuer is Carballo, who carded a 5-under 65 despite hitting only four of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens in the second round.

“I’m playing well and I gave myself a lot of chances, and to come away without any bogeys is always good,” he said. “The idea is just not to give up too many shots to whoever is leading.”

Nobody was sure who might be at the top when the early starters were finished, and van der Walt may not be at the top when the round comes to a close Saturday morning.

Mabrey had a chance to challenge for the lead, but the recent University of Tulsa graduate was derailed by a double-bogey late in his round.

“I wasn’t very comfortable over my tee shot on seven (his 16th hole),” he said. “I wasn’t very comfortable with it on Thursday either.”

The difference was that Mabrey, who turned pro less than a month ago, busted out driver on the 456-yard, par-4 dogleg hole in Friday’s round after hitting hybrid in round one.

“I play a draw and there’s water on the left. I’ve blocked my shot to the right the first two days,” he said. “Yesterday I didn’t hit enough club to get out of bounds, but today I did. I hit driver and just put a bad swing on it.”

Mabrey bounced back on the next hole with a six-foot birdie putt and closed with a par and round of 67, all pretty impressive for a 22-year-old from Little Rock who is making his first Tour start, and the second of his career.

His first pro start came last week at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be,” he said. “I was pretty nervous on the first tee but after that, it’s just golf. It’s the same sport I’ve been playing my whole life. I think that helped me mentally prepare for this week.”

Currently the top Canadian in the field is Taylor Pendrith with a 3-under-par round of 67 today.