Greg Norman Leads Senior British Open

Around this time a year ago, Greg Norman was the golf story. A ripe 53 years old, Norman plotted around the links at Royal Birkdale for three days in the lead of an Open Championship, trying to capture his third major championship victory.

You all know the story. Norman faltered in the final round, shooting a 7-over 77 to lose to Padraig Harrington by six shots. A year later, the Shark is at it again, leading the Senior British at Sunningdale Golf Club after a third-round 64 allowed him to jump Fred Funk. Norman is a shot ahead of Funk at 10-under with 18 holes to go for his first ever Champions Tour win.

That stat can be misleading. Norman has avoided playing even sparingly on the Champions Tour, but when he has, he's been successful. After the near-win at last year's Open, Norman finished t-5 at the Senior British and fourth at the Senior U.S. Open.

Norman will have to take down Funk, who opened the tournament with rounds of 64-65 before coming back to the field on Saturday with at 2-over 72. Loren Roberts is also tied with Funk at 9-under, with Denis Johnson a shot back at 8-under.

The big story last week at Turnberry was Tom Watson, who started the week with some hope at Sunningdale. Watson's 67 on Thursday was surprising considering all he'd gone through the last few days, but he has struggled to go low enough to stay with the leaders. A Friday round of 69 was followed by an ever-par round of 70 to have the five-time Open winner six shots back of the lead.