MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Walter Hall certainly got Jim Thorpe's attention with a brilliant putting performance Saturday in the third round of the AT&T Canada Senior Open.
"My hat's off to Walter," Thorpe said. "That's probably the greatest putting round I've seen since I've been on the senior tour. If he putts like that tomorrow, we can't beat him."
Hall, seeking his first victory after five runner-up finishes in five senior seasons, had only 26 putts in a 6-under-par 65 on the historic Mississaugua Golf and Country Club course.
"I putted awfully well," Hall said. "I only had one little blemish — the three-putt on 10. Other than that, I either looked like I was going to make it or made it."
The former North Carolina appliance sales manager had a 14-under 199 total on the 95-year-old course to take a one-stroke lead over Thorpe, with Bruce Fleisher and Tom Kite three strokes back.
"It doesn't get any better than this," Hall said. "I had a day job for 20 years, so my wife and I are out here on vacation every day. All I want to do is play well. If I win, I win. If I don't, I don't."
Thorpe, who opened with a course-record 63 and led after the first two rounds, had 31 putts in a 68.
"Any time you have that many putts, you're not going to set the course on fire," Thorpe said. "I had a lot of 10-12-foot putts that I didn't capitalize on."
Fleisher, seeking his fourth victory of the year and 15th in 2 1/2 seasons on the tour, had a 67, while Kite birdied three of the final four holes for a 66.
"I'm especially pleased with the way I finished," Kite said. "I was really upset with the three-putt on No. 14. I gave myself a little pep talk. Actually, it was more like a kick in the pants."
After the three-putt bogey on No. 10, Hall took the lead with three straight birdies — holing a 10-foot putt on No. 11, an 8-footer on No. 12 and a 6-footer on No. 13.
Hall hit only six of 14 fairways in regulation, but more than made up for it with his putting. On No. 15, he made a 10-foot par putt after slicing his drive so far right that it landed in the 13th fairway. He put a fitting touch on the round on No. 18, barely nudging a 20-footer in for his eighth birdie of the day.
"It's a tremendous golf course that's in great condition," Hall said. "If you can hit it good and putt it good you can go low."
Vicente Fernandez (66) and Danny Edwards (67) were four strokes back at 10 under, and Mike McCullough (69), Jesse Patino (65) and Ed Dougherty (67) were 9 under.
Because of the threat of late afternoon rain Sunday, the players will start on both the first and 10th tees. The leaders will tee off at 9:54 a.m., about 2 1/2 hours earlier than originally scheduled.
Bob Charles won the 54-hole Super Seniors competition for players 60 and over, closing with a 69 for a 5-under total. The 65-year-old New Zealander earned $34,000 for his third victory of the year. George Archer was second, one stroke back.