BRADENTON, Fla. — Keith Horne of South Africa overcame the nerves of not feeling comfortable with his swing by posting a 6-under 66 for a one-shot lead Saturday in the Senior PGA Championship, giving him a shot at the biggest win of his career.
Horne never contended in a regular major championship because he never played in one. He has nine Sunshine Tour wins in South Africa, none in the two decades he spent on the Asian Tour. His best world ranking was No. 173 in the world.
But he was holding his own against past major champions like Stewart Cink and Vijay Singh.
“There’s nothing better than playing in a big golf tournament and feeling in full control of your golf swing, but you know, that’s not the case this week,” Horne said. “It’s not like it’s terrible or anything like that, but it’s enough to make me nervous about just standing up and swinging it at the target.”
He managed just fine, his lone bogey coming on the opening hole. He was at 11-under 205, one shot ahead of Cink (70), Steve Allan (68), Scott Hend (72) and Thammanoon Sriroj of Thailand, who had thrills and a few spills in his round of 66.
Sriroj had an eagle on the par-5 third hole, only to make double bogey on the par-5 seventh. He followed that with six birdies over the next seven holes and was tied for the lead until closing with a bogey on the 18th at Concession Golf Club.
“At the round start I had the par, par and eagle. I was feeling pretty good,” Sriroj said. “But after the double bogey, I wasn’t feeling too well. Then eventually ended up with a bogey on the last hole.”
He left out the six birdies in the middle, but it at least allowed him to think about winning after showing up at the Senior PGA Championship hopeful of making the cut.
“If I win, I might pass out,” he said with a laugh.
Cink has six wins on the PGA Tour Champions, but no majors yet. He birdied both par 5s on the back nine to get within one shot. He is the most proven — the PGA Tour Champions player of the year in 2025 — of the 10 players separated by three shots going into the final round.
“We’ll have to be aggressive,” Cink said. “It’s going to take a really good round tomorrow. I don’t think I can expect to shoot the same as today and win this tournament.”
Horne says he’s surprised to be leading, mainly because of the strong field and only his third time playing the Senior PGA. His best finish is a tie for 28th. And then there’s the matter of his swing, which at least keeps him focused.
“It helps as well as hinders at the same time, because I really have to concentrate really hard on every single golf shot,” he said. “I don’t get ahead of myself, because it’s not like I’m playing so great I’m thinking, ‘Well, this is fantastic.’
“I’m really staying in the moment, because I’m worried about the golf swing and what could potentially go wrong,” he said. “So it really does keep me in the moment, but it does also make me a little bit more anxious on a lot of the shots.”