Fleisher, Fernandez Tied for Senior Lead

Bruce Fleisher fired a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 Saturday and was tied with Argentina’s Vicente Fernandez for the lead after three rounds of the 60th PGA Seniors Championship at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla..

Showing glimpses of the form that propelled him to the best start in Senior PGA Tour history, Fleisher birdied four of the first six holes to match Fernandez with a 54-hole total of 10-under 206.

“I really made nothing the first two days. I think I made up for it today,” Fleisher said.

Fernandez shot a 71 Saturday, falling out of sole possession of the lead with two bogeys over the final five holes. Spain’s Jose-Maria Canizares was another stroke back after carding a 68, with nobody else closer than six under.

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Chris Perry, whose father is former major league pitcher Jim and uncle is Hall-of-Famer Gaylord, was struggling with his confidence and his game after losing his PGA Tour card seven years ago.

“I remember having a few chats with my dad about a pitching situation and it was pretty much the same as it is in golf, kind of one pitch at a time,” said Perry, who shot a three-under 68 for a one-stroke lead at the MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

He was the Nike Tour’s player of the year in 1996, won $460,984 on the PGA Tour in 1997 and earned his first PGA victory at last year’s B.C. Open.

“I guess everybody kind of goes through that if you play this game long enough,” said Perry, whose 10-under total is one better than Payne Stewart and John Huston.

Perry took advantage as Stewart faltered.

Stewart was at 12 under after a birdie on the par-three seventh hole--his six-iron knocked off a tree and landed four feet away--and led by four shots. But he made three bogeys the rest of the way.

“There’s a lot of people, a lot of explosive people, in this golf tournament,” the 1989 and 1990 champion said. “There was a chance to have only a few in it.”