SENIOR BRITISH OPEN Tour's newest major features rematch of famous 1977 Watson, Nicklaus duel

Watson, Tom Kite are tied atop the leaderboard with 66.
TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) -- The newest major on the Champions Tour has a star-studded leaderboard.
Tom Watson and Tom Kite each shot a 2-under-par 66 to tie for the lead in the Senior British Open on Thursday.
With seven players, including Fuzzy Zoeller, just a stroke behind at 3 under, there are plenty of low scores on the board as a field of 144 try to win in the $1.6 million championship.
The real loser, however, could be the much-loved Turnberry course.
Course in trouble
Barely 1,000 fans showed up for the opening day of the tournament and the course is in danger of losing its status as a venue for the Open because of the lack of easy road access for spectators.
Troon, St. Andrews and Hoylake host the next three Opens and there is no slot yet for Turnberry, which staged the 1977, '86 and '94 championships.
Gary Player, winner of nine majors including three Opens in three decades, is a strong supporter of keeping Turnberry in the rotation.
"It is a very special place, in fact my favorite golf course in Britain," he said. "I hope they will continue play Open golf championships here for a long time to come.
"I think it is a lot better than the one they played last week (at Royal St. George's, Sandwich). It would be a tragedy if they never came back here.
"This is a real championship golf course," said the South African, whose 73 put him seven shots off the lead. "I don't think that Sandwich is a real, true test of golf like this one.
With so few spectators bothering to come to Turnberry, the case for keeping it wasn't helped.
Watson vs. Nicklaus II
Most of those who did, followed the Watson-Jack Nicklaus match which was billed as a repeat of their "duel in the sun" at the same links at the Open of 1977.
Back then, the two players were neck and neck, shooting 65s in the third round before Nicklaus tried to break away on Sunday. He has leads of three and two strokes but Watson came back to win by one stroke.
This time it was Watson who took control with three birdies in a row beginning at the seventh. Nicklaus, 10 years his senior, did well to finish at even par and the two go out together again today. However, Kite didn't let Watson stay on top of the leaderboard alone, despite starting his round with a double bogey.
"That little double bogey on the first hole was like a slap in the face," Kite said. "It woke me up a little bit. Then I made some really nice birdies on the back nine on the real meat of the golf course.
"I have been playing well the last couple of weeks over in the States and had a good finish in the last tournament I played where I tied with Tom and Jim Thorpe at the Senior Players Championship. So I came in here with a lot of confidence."