PEABODY – (Radio & Photos) Kirk Triplett shot a four under par 66 today to remain on top at the U.S. Senior Open at the Salem Country Club. One shot back is Kenny Perry who shot a three under par 67 today. Scoring on media interviews are posted below. Kirk Triplett’s total of 195 is the lowest 54-hole score in U.S. Senior Open history. The previous record was 198, set by Olin Browne at Inverness in 2011. Triplett’s 15 under par matches Browne’s 54-hole mark in relation to par from 2011. Round Three Notes Below
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Kirk Triplett – Scottsdale, Arizona (62, 67, 66 – 195) -15
![IMG_5353[1]](http://www.msonewsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IMG_53531.jpg)
Kenny Perry – Franklin, KY – (65, 64, 67 – 196) -14
Kirk Triplett / Kenny Perry
![IMG_5354[1]](http://www.msonewsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IMG_53541.jpg)
Round Three Notes
Kirk Triplett’s total of 195 is the lowest 54-hole score in U.S. Senior Open history. The previous record was 198, set by Olin Browne at Inverness in 2011. Triplett’s 15 under par matches Browne’s 54-hole mark in relation to par from 2011.
Triplett is attempting to become the fourth start-to-finish winner in U.S. Senior Open history, joining Dale Douglass (1986), Simon Hobday (1994) and Olin Browne (2011).
Kenny Perry will attempt to become the sixth winner of multiple U.S. Senior Open championships. He also won the 2013 championship at Omaha (Neb) Country Club.
Of the last seven groups to play on Saturday, only the duo of Triplett (66) and Perry (67) broke par in their third rounds. The other 12 players combined to shoot 24 over par.
Triplett’s caddie, Fred Sanders, was Perry’s caddie when he won the 2013 U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club. Triplett and Perry played together on Saturday and will again be in the final group on Sunday, teeing off at 2 p.m. EDT.
Brandt Jobe’s 8-under 62 ties Kirk Triplett (2017, first round) and Loren Roberts (2006, third round) for the lowest score in USGA Open championship history. Jobe made nine birdies and one bogey in his round, which included a 6-under 29 on the second nine. He started the day tied for 29th and ended it in third place.
Jobe’s five consecutive birdies (Nos. 12-16) ties a U.S. Senior Open record shared by 10 others. Jeff Sluman also accomplished the feat (Nos. 10-14) in the first round this year.
Jobe birdied all four par 3s in the third round and he leads the field by playing the par 3s in 6 under this week.
In the 2001 U.S. Senior Open at Salem Country Club, only three players had sub-par totals through 54 holes. This year, 31 players are under par through three rounds. The most sub-par totals for a U.S. Senior Open is 36 at Inverness Club in 2011.
Through 54 holes, there have been 96 sub-par rounds in the championship. The record is 128 at Inverness in 2011.
For the third consecutive day, the par-4 second hole played as the most difficult in the 2017 U.S. Senior Open. The 353-yard fourth hole, which played as the sixth-easiest hole (4.01 stroke average) in the first two rounds, was the fourth-most-difficult hole on Saturday, playing more than a quarter stroke higher at 4.28.
An amateur made the 36-hole cut for the 14th consecutive year. Robby Funk, the lone amateur to make the cut, was the first player to tee off in the third round. Kevin Wood, the head golf professional at Salem Country Club, served as his marker.
Sixty-one players made the 36-hole cut (finished Saturday morning) of 1-over 141. That is the lowest cut score and the lowest cut score in relation to par in U.S. Senior Open history. The previous low was 2-over 144 at Inverness Club in the 2011 championship.
The second round, which resumed at 6:43 a.m., finished at 7:31 a.m. Twenty-four players were still on the course when play was suspended on Friday.
Seven U.S. Senior Open champions made the cut: Olin Browne (2011), Brad Bryant (2007), Roger Chapman (2012), Bernhard Langer (2010), Jeff Maggert (2015), Colin Montgomerie (2014) and Kenny Perry (2013).
Gene Sauers is the first defending champion to miss the cut since Roger Chapman in 2013.
