VIDEO: U.S. Senior Open Round Three Breakdown

It was an early start to the third round of the U.S. Senior Open Saturday morning due to anticipated weather and when the dust settled, Stewart Cink was in front by a single stroke over Padraig Harrington.

Sunday’s weather will lead to another early start with split tees and threesomes, and potentially optimal scoring conditions, given Scioto Country Club received rainfall after the round.

After slow first nines in each of the first two rounds, Cink fired a 4-under par front side and recorded two more birdies and a clean card on the back nine, good for a 64, tying Darren Clarke for low round both of the day and tournament.

Padraig Harrington trailed by five shots after six holes but found his run and was tied atop the leaderboard before recording bogey on the last hole.

The duel between the two is quite familiar as the two squared off a year ago with Harrington emerging victorious. If that happens again, he will become the second-ever three-time winner of this event.

Cink leads the Charles Schwab Cup points race and his win would not only avenge a year ago’s result but also become the first player to ever conquer the season’s first three majors.

Second-round leader George McNeill led Cink by three shots following the sixth hole, but his double bogey on the eighth hole proved to be costly. While he bounced back with birdie a hole later, he would not record another for the duration of his round.

Among Cink’s closest pursuers is the runner up from 10 years ago at Scioto Country Club, Miguel Angel Jimenez, who has improved his score by a shot each round.

PGN’s Zachary Weiss has this takeout video summarizing Saturday’s play.

Photo credit: Edward M. Pio Roda/USGA