First-timer leading Senior PGA Championship

BEACHWOOD, Ohio (AP) - After failing to win in 271 PGA Tour events, Michael Allen figures he's due.

Getting a fresh start in his senior debut, Allen shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday for a 1-shot lead over Tom Kite and Hinsdale's Jeff Sluman through three rounds in the Senior PGA Championship.

"These guys are great players and they have beaten me for a long time, but maybe it's my turn," said Allen, who stands at 3-under 207 through 54 holes.

Allen, who turned 50 in January, is an unlikely leader in the tour's first major championship of the year. He swore he won't be shaken by the major champions and perennial winners who are chasing him.

"I'm certainly not intimidated. I guess when you're 50 you kind of lose some of that," he said. "Out here I played with most all these guys for years and I know them all pretty well. If there's any intimidation, I'm more intimidated by the factors of winning tournaments than I am playing with the guys."

Sluman had the lead to himself before bogeying the 16th and 18th holes, completing a 70 that left him tied with Kite, who bogeyed the final two holes for a 69.

Allen, who turned pro in 1984, deliberated whether to play in this week's Byron Nelson event on the PGA Tour or to make his first foray on the Champions Tour. So far, he's made a wise choice.

"It was a little bit of a tough decision," Allen said. "You got a $6.5 million tournament, that's a big tournament out there. But it was a tournament that really hasn't been great to me over the years. So I thought that this was really a nice opportunity to come out and see how I match up."

Byron Nelson Championship: Rory Sabbatini has already won at Hogan's Alley. Now the South African shares the lead going into the final round at Byron Nelson's tournament in Irving, Texas.

"Anything associated with his name would be an absolute honor," Sabbatini said after shooting a 5-under 65 to keep a share of the lead with John Mallinger in the Byron Nelson Championship.

LPGA Corning Classic: Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato matched the tournament record with a 10-under 62 for a share of the third-round lead with South Korea's Soo-Yun Kang in the final LPGA Corning Classic in Corning, N.Y.

BMW PGA Championship: England's Paul Casey shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 to stretch his lead to 3 strokes after the third round of the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England,