Calcavecchia leads by 2 in Boca Raton; Steelers ink fullback
Mark Calcavecchia birdied the last three holes Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer into the final round of the PGA Tour Champions’ Boca Raton (Fla.) Championship.
Calcavecchia shot a 6-underpar 66 at The Old Course at Broken Sound, rebounding from bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15 with the late birdie run.
“Kind of really saved the day with that,” Calcavecchia said. “I’m super happy. I’m playing well and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Calcavecchia, 57, had a 14under 130 total. He opened with a 64 for a one-stroke lead in the senior tour’s first full-field event of the season, and kept his two-shot advantage over Langer.
Calcavecchia made 30-footers on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th and set up a 3-foot putt on the par-5 18th with a chip after leaving an approach from the right pine straw to the right of the green.
“I was so bummed out I bogeyed 14 because I really hit a beautiful shot,” Calcavecchia said. “And then to bogey 15, I’m like, ‘No, I’m playing too good, I can’t screw this up.’ Just like I hit a good shot into 16 and I decided I’m going to make this, this is ridiculous. And I just, sure enough, I just made it. So it felt good to talk myself into that and wheel that one in.”
Langer, the 2010 winner in his home event, had his second straight 66. The 60-year-old German won seven times last season, three of the victories majors.
Calcavecchia won the last of his three senior titles in 2015. He won the 1989 British Open for one of his 13 PGA Tour titles.
Bart Bryant had a 64 to match Jerry Smith (67) at 10under. Paul Broadhurst (66), Steve Flesch (68) and Michael Allen (68) were 9-under. John Daly followed an opening 67 with a 73 to drop to 4-under. Defending champion Scott McCarron was 2-under after a 69.
Thailand’s Prom Meesawat took a two-stroke lead after three rounds with a 5-under 67 while England’s Lee Westwood went from a tie for first place to being out of the World Super 6 tournament in Perth, Australia.
Meesawat had a three-round total of 12-under 204 at Lake Karrinyup Country Club. American Sean Crocker (67), Australian Lucas Herbert (69) and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen (69) were tied for second.
Westwood shot a thirdround 78 to finish out of the top 24 that would have qualified him for match play Sunday.
The event is sanctioned by three tours: European, Asian and PGA of Australia.
Steelers will keep Pro Bowl fullback
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Pro Bowl fullback Roosevelt Nix to a four-year contract.
Nix, 25, played in all 16 games for the AFC North champions this season. Used primarily as a blocking back for All-Pro Le’Veon Bell, Nix did score the first two touchdowns of his career in 2017. He caught a pass from Ben Roethlisberger in a victory over Baltimore on Dec. 10 and added a 1-yard touchdown run against Houston on Dec. 25.
Nix initially signed a reserve/ futures contract with the Steelers in January, 2015 and gradually worked his way into a starting job. He’s played 41 of a possible 48 regular-season games during his time in Pittsburgh.
The New York Jets signed defensive back Kacy Rodgers II, son of defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers, to a reserve/ future contract.
Rodgers II was undrafted out of Miami in 2013 and spent the past two seasons with the Canadian Football League’s askatchewan Roughriders. He had 74 tackles, one interception and three forced fumbles for the Roughriders.
The elder Rodgers has been New York’s defensive coordinator under coach Todd Bowles since 2015. Motor sports: Clay Millican had a Top Fuel national time record of 3.628 seconds at 322.04 mph to take the No. 1 qualifying position in the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona (Los Angeles County).
Millican broke his own record of 3.631 set last year in Madison, Ill.
Matt Hagan topped Funny Car qualifying, and Vincent Nobile led the Pro Stock field.