Alex Cejka of Germany ascended to the top of the leaderboard at The Senior Open Championship despite carding a 3-over-par 74 on Saturday at Bridgend, Wales.
Cejka birdied his final hole during gusting winds to reside at even-par 213 at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club. He is seeking his third career major on the Champions Tour after emerging victorious at the 2021 Regions Tradition and 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
Cejka holds a one-stroke over the quartet of Phillip Archer (71 on Saturday) of England, two-time Open Championship winner Padraig Harrington (71) of Ireland, former World No. 1 Vijay Singh (73) of Fiji and second-round leader Steven Alker (76) of New Zealand.
Nobody broke par on Saturday, marking the first round in which that has happened on either the PGA Tour or Champions Tour since the 2008 Open Championship. Harrington won that event.
Singh, who capped his round with a birdie on the 18th hole, is seeking his sixth career victory on the Champions Tour and second major. He won the 2018 Kaulig Companies Championship.
Alker, who had a hole-in-one on the par-3 15th hole, is chasing his second major victory in the over-50 ranks. He won the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2022.
Jerry Kelly (71) and Greig Hutcheon (75) of Scotland are tied for sixth place at 2-over. Hutcheon plays on Europe's Legends Tour.
Defending Senior Open champion Darren Clarke shot a 78 on Saturday and is in a tie for 32nd place at 7-over.
First-round leader Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain followed up a 76 on Friday with an 83 on Saturday to slip to 12-over for the tournament.
The tournament is the last of five majors on the senior schedule. The winner gets into The Open next year at Royal Troon.
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