(Getty Images photo)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - For three nights running, Roger Chapman has eaten dinner with a book and his thoughts at the Grande Mere Inn in nearby Stevensville.

He was planning a fourth visit Saturday night. And why not?

Chapman's third round of the 73rd Senior PGA Championship was his best yet at the GC of Harbor Shores, a brilliant, seven-under 64 that put him at 14-under and five strokes ahead of John Cook after 54 holes.

The Englishman's 54-hole total of 199 matched the championship record held by Sam Snead, and his ball-striking today would have been something the Slammer would have admired. Chapman, utilizing what he described as the best iron play of his life, peppered the flagsticks throughout the day and holed a pair of 25-foot birdie putts to boot.

"It was pretty special," Chapman said. "Coming here I had no real expectations, but I knew I was playing OK and everything the first three rounds has gone really well for me."

He has hit 48 of 54 greens through 54 holes, the type of golf that makes one wonder why he only won once during his long European Tour career.

That victory, in the 2000 Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open over Padraig Harrington in a playoff, came on his 472nd start. He never won again, and at 53 is still looking for his first win on the European senior circuit after playing a truncated schedule on the Champions Tour last year.

At Harbor Shores, Chapman has looked like he is on cruise control. "He's swinging the club beautifully, and his distance control has been spot on," said Cook, who was grouped with Chapman Saturday. "And he's used those ridges [on the greens] perfectly. It really was a great round to watch. If he keeps swinging the way he is right now, it's going to be tough. Somebody's going to have to shoot something very low."

Harbor Shores has a lot of trouble, but so far Chapman has avoided most of it with rounds of 68, 67 and today's course-record tying 64. His challenge will be to stay clear of it again tomorrow, even with the comfortable cushion starting the day. After Cook at nine under, Steve Pate and Hale Irwin are tied for third place, seven shots behind the leader, with Joel Edwards another stroke back in fifth place.

"There's a lot of trouble out there," Cook said. "If you don't quite have it, it can make you look silly."

Through 54 holes, Chapman has simply looked superb.

-- Bill Fields

(Photo by Getty Images)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- When Hale Irwin got to the Senior PGA Championship this week and heard so much carping from his peers about the severe greens at Harbor Shores, it reminded him of a championship long ago.

"Well, it reminds me a lot of Winged Foot in '74," Irwin said. "There were a lot of disgruntled players in '74, and 70 percent of them were out of the tournament before the tournament even started."

The dogged Irwin, of course, survived Winged Foot's rigors in 1974 to win the first of his three U.S. Opens. Through two rounds of the Senior PGA, Irwin is in the thick of contention at age 66. He matched his age Friday in a remarkable ball-striking display that moved him to five-under 137, in third place, two shots behind Roger Chapman and John Cook.

"He played behind me and I knew he got off to a good start and it looked like he was making birdies on every hole," Cook said. "And I go, 'Oh my God, look at this, we're battling around there just trying to make pars and here's this 66-year-old just whipping our butts.'"

Irwin three-putted the par-5 ninth hole (his 18th) for his lone bogey of the day. He missed six birdie putts inside 15 feet on a day that could have truly been something to talk about. "I really didn't putt very well," Irwin said, "I just played very, very well."

Irwin's shotmaking was personified by a beautiful, cut 5-iron on his 11th hole, a 176-yard par 3, where his ball chased back to within five feet of a rear hole location. He has only had one top-10 finish this season on the Champions Tour (in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with partner Ian Baker-Finch) but is inspired by the tougher challenges at the senior majors.

"These are exacting golf courses and they require exacting shots," Irwin said. "And that's the way it should be and why I think there are some of us that look so forward to these kind of events. And if I can do well in them, exel in them and have a chance the last day, then - I hate the term - that's what it's all about. That's why we continue doing what we do and continue trying to push that bar beyond where some people might stop. I just don't believe in that. It's just not in me to do that."

At Valhalla GC last year, Irwin made a spirited run at his fifth Senior PGA Championship, sharing the 54-hole lead before closing with a 73 to finish two shots out of the Tom Watson-David Eger playoff won by Watson. Now, with two rounds to play at Harbor Shores, Irwin is right back in the mix.

"He's such an inspiration," said Cook. "Hale just keeps getting it done."

-- Bill Fields

Kevin Na, the man with the stuttering golf swing, ran afoul of the law at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Friday's second round when his threesome with Johnny Huh and Aaron Baddeley were placed on the clock for slow play. Na objected to the action strenuously. Huh shot a 66 Friday and was at four-under par through 36 holes. Baddeley's 70 left him one-over par going to the weekend. Na made three bogeys after being put on the clock -- Nos. 9, 12 and 14 -- but birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to shoot 71 and also be at one over after 36 holes. Here's what Na had to say after Friday's round at Colonial CC:

"We were in position all day. We were waiting the first few holes. I'm constantly looking where we are in position. Off the sixth tee we were in perfect position, off the seventh tee we were doing fine, we were in perfect position. We struggled a little bit on eighth, the par-3, as a group because we had long shots and long putts coming in and we stand on nine and we get off the tee and they are telling us we are on the clock. I get on nine green and I look down 10 fairway and they are on the green. We have an 11-minute interval and we are in position. After I putted on the hole I called them over and said, 'Look, we're in position, we shouldn't be on the clock.' That's all."

Asked if he thought he was being singled out, Na said: "No comment, no comment."

But he was clearly angry:

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Same guy, same course, different day.

Michael Allen shot a 77 Thursday in the first round of the 73rd Senior PGA Championship. He was 13 strokes better than that Friday, carding a course-record, seven-under 64 to vault into contention on a much calmer day at Harbor Shores.

Allen, 102nd after his six-over opening round, was T-5 at one-under 141 when he got to the clubhouse, three strokes behind leader Roger Chapman, who was early in his second round.

It was the lowest round shot in the Senior PGA since Allen Doyle closed with a 64 to win the event in 1999 at PGA National GC. His turnaround equaled the 13-shot swings by Brad Bryant (80-67) and Bill Loeffler (82-69) from the second to third rounds during the 2010 Senior PGA at Colorado GC.

Allen -- the hottest player on the Champions Tour this season with two victories and four other top-four finishes -- made seven birdies (only one on a par 5), saved par after hitting his approach long on No. 7 and didn't have a bogey.

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the original Star Wars movie, or for those of who insist on recognizing the cash extravaganza prequels, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Star Wars is as iconic a brand as any of the last 35 years, and like every facet of our culture, golf has not remained untouched by the marketing blitz that has become synonymous with the movie.

A quick jaunt around the internet will offer golf bags, head covers, balls, and even a fan fiction Jack Nicklaus Computer Golf Support Board. In fact, you can customize just about any golf utility or clothing item with something from the Star Wars lineage. Luckily, the video results are just as rewarding.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Among the elements that make up the complex formula of championship golf is the relationship between the player and his caddie. For years now, Zach Johnson and Damon Green have enjoyed the kind of honesty and mutual respect that leads to winning golf, as it did when Johnson took home the green jacket at the 2007 Masters. Now, that bond has grown stronger as they share the death of Green's father.

On the Sunday evening of the Players, soon after Johnson made a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 18 that was the difference between finishing T-2 or fifth at TPC Sawgrass, Green jumped in his car and drove the 360 miles from Ponte Vedra Beach to Pensacola for one last chat with his father, Rev. Douglas Brooks Green, before he passed away the following Thursday from stomach cancer.

"I got there at 11:30 and we stayed up until about 2 just talking," Green said Thursday at Colonial CC after Johnson shot 64 in the opening round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational. "He got to see the telecast [of the Players] and got to see the hat."

The hat was the one Damon wore at TPC Sawgrass that said: "Love Mom and Dad." Green's mother, Ruth, is 90 years old. "Dad was 88," Green said. "He had 87 good ones."

Photo by Getty Images

Just one week after his father passed, Green was back at work. "It was tough," he said, "but I thought it would be a lot tougher with everyone coming up and offering their condolences. But I am at ease as much as possible with it because I know he is in a better spot. I know he's up there. He was in pain the last few days."

Rory McIlroy doesn't appear to be lacking confidence, not in a week in which he told the media he "certainly believes" he's the best golfer in the world. 

But just in case the defending U.S. Open champion was in need of an ego boost, the San Francisco Giants announced yesterday that it'll give away Rory McIlroy bobbleheads at its Irish Heritage Night on June 12.

From a marketing perspective, the promotion seems like a "home run." Two days after the promotion, the 2012 U.S. Open will be contested at nearby Olympic Club in San Francisco. We gather that's a good way to boost interest for the casual golf fan in the Bay Area.

So what if the bobblehead looks little like the curly-haired 2011 U.S. Open winner? McIlroy doesn't seem to mind.

"The Bobblehead might be a little better looking than me, which is nice," McIlroy quipped when asked about the promotion after his round at the BMW PGA Championship.

We wonder if his star tennis girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki agrees.

Related: McIlroy named Golf World's No. 1 Newsmaker of 2011

Does McIlroy, from Belfast, Northern Ireland where he certainly grew up keeping an eye on soccer and rugby over the MLB, even care for baseball?

He seems to be warm enough to the idea, probably more so for the sake of the U.S. Open. He says he'll have some friends from the San Francisco area there to watch him, too.

McIlroy seemed to be practicing for his date on the mound during the first round of the BMW PGA as he tossed a club in disgust on the 12th hole Thursday.

"Obviously throwing the first pitch at a baseball game [is] something I've never done before," he said. "Just need to start practicing. I don't really want to make a fool of myself."

--Stephen Hennessey

Follow @s_hennesseyGD

Shortly after taking off yesterday afternoon from the Opa-Locka Executive Airport, a passenger plane's door became detached in mid-air and crashed down on a fairway at the Westin Diplomat Hotel and Spa golf course. Luckily, no one was on the course at the time as it was closed for maintenance -- one of only two days each year it is not open to golfers.

While details of the incident are still unclear, WSVN-TV of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale reports that the plane door blew off and, according to witnesses, fell in between two condominium high-rises and crashed through some trees before hitting the ground, skidding 15 feet and coming to a stop.

The jet landed safely at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shortly after losing the door. None of the passengers on board were injured.

-- Derek Evers
Follow @DerekEvers

Eleven years ago, Sergio Garcia confirmed his status as a rising star, capturing his first win at Colonial less than two years after nearly taking down Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship. Remember "El Nino"? That affable, fiery Spanish bundle of energy? I do -- and I miss him.

I remember trying to model my own game after Garcia's soon after that epic duel at Medinah. And why not? Garcia was a fearless kid who hit his own stinging irons and who always seemed to be having fun on the course. Now he looks like a guy who makes playing golf for a lot of money on exquisite courses around the world not much fun at all.

Sergio never seems happy these days. (Photo by Getty Images)

He's No. 22 in golf's world ranking, but Garcia is still trying to live up to his promise -- and it doesn't look promising that he will. As the man with a Ben Hogan-like swing returns to Hogan's home event more than a decade later, the only charge he's leading is that of the naysayers who don't think he has what it takes to win one of golf's biggest events.

"I've been trying for 13 years, and I don't feel capable of winning (a major)," Garcia was quoted by Spanish-language media following a third-round 75 at the Masters that dropped him out of contention. "I don't know what happened to me. Maybe it's something psychological."