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Couples & Langer Tied for Lead after 54 Holes of U.S. Senior Open

Fred Couples has been the darling of his hometown Seattle fans all week long during the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, and the rookie on the Champions Tour didn't disappoint them in the third round at Sahalee Country Club.

The 50-year-old carded a scintillating 5-under 65, the low round of the championship, to tie second-round leader Bernhard Langer, who shot a 2-under 68, aided in part to a birdie on the difficult 18th hole.

Couples and Langer stand at 5-under 205 at Sahalee, which is playing as a par 70. They enjoy a five-stroke lead over Tom Kite (69) and Taiwan's Chien Soon Lu (68), the only other players at par or better through 54 holes.

Tommy Armour III (72), John Cook (72), reigning Senior PGA champion Michael Allen (71) and Australia's Peter Senior (68) are six shots off the pace at 1-over 211.

Loren Roberts (72) and former U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson (71) are tied for ninth at 212.

Couples was paired Saturday with Tom Watson, who fell down the leaderboard after a 75 that put him into a tie for 16th at 215.

The popular player known as "Boom-Boom" got off to a hot start, with four birdies on the par-34 front nine for a 30. One more birdie on the back - on the par-4 16th - and the pars the rest of the way made for his spotless 65.

On Sunday, Couples will go head-to-head with Langer, who last week won the Senior British Open at Carnoustie. Langer will be looking to become the first player since Tom Watson in 2003 to win back-to-back majors on the Champions Tour.

Langer is feeling good about his game and is welcoming the challenge with Couples. "I came in with confidence which is always good. It's the best I think you can have in golf is confidence. But I did feel tired this week and especially the late tee times on my first day was tough.

"But, you know, every day you start feeling a little better, you sleep more, get more rest and then it eventually becomes just normal, you get over the jet lag eventually but it takes at least three, four, five days with an eight hour time change. But I'm not feeling too bad and just fortunate to hit the ball good and my short game has been pretty good so I'm hanging in there tough."

He was also well aware of the rousing ovations Couples was generating ahead of him. "There were some great cheers today, sounded a bit like Augusta on the back nine, honestly," the German Hall-of-Famer said. "There were lots of big cheers all day long and I didn't know it was all Freddy or if it was Tom Watson or John Cook or could have been anybody. But I guess Fred made the most noise, John Cook had a run earlier on and I made my own little noise so it was fun, it was a great atmosphere."

Couples said afterward he was excited about his round. "You know, it was a great, great day . . . Playing with Tom was great and today was no exception. Today I played better and he struggled the last nine holes to make some bogeys, and it was fun to play with him and to play like that."

He was also appreciated of his adoring fans, who raised a racket all day long. Through the first two rounds when he shot matching 70s, he could pick out voices from his family and friends, but not Saturday.

"I made three birdies in a row [on Friday] and I shot 70 and they keep screaming and yelling and it's hard to get down because most of the ones screaming are your family so you kinda hear their voices," Couples said. "And I've been hearing them my whole life and that was good. Today I didn't hear many family [members] because it was loud and so much fun. And tomorrow I'm playing with Bernhard in the last group so that will be a treat."

Couples is also looking forward to his pairing with Langer, who he really hasn't played against much in such head-to-head situations. "We played on a couple of Saturdays but never on a Sunday," he said.

"Bernhard was probably smiling because most of my shots have been louder than everyone else's today, but he's shot well today and I'm not saying if there is a U.S. Open today we would be leading but we would be very good right now and that makes me feel good because this course is brutal, it's not very easy at all. The reason no one is under par or very few is because it's that hard."

As for a victory in a USGA championship in his hometown, Couples thinks that would be pretty cool. When asked where that title would fall in his impressive list of victories, including a Masters victory in 1992, Couples said: "Where would it rank? I would say as far as excitement, probably No. 1, but as far as, you know, feel to it would be behind Augusta.

"If I don't win, it will be disappointing but it's going to be a great week either way. I just want to go out and play well and, you know, see what happens. It's all you can do. I mean, I'm in a great position to win in my hometown, that's probably not going to happen again, so I don't think that's going to make me more nervous than trying to win the U.S. Senior Open than I think it is but I'll let you know on the first tee tomorrow."

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