A television cameraman spotter was making his way up the 18th fairway at Sahalee Country Club late Saturday afternoon, and took a long, hard glance at the setting.

“Man, these are good crowds,” he said, scanning the periphery of the green outside the ropes.

Jumbo-sized galleries even the players are noticing.

The third round of the 31st U.S. Senior Open drew 28,967 – the largest to ever see a day at a major championship, either from the regular tour or the 50-and-over circuit.

The PGA of America limited its gallery sizes to 25,000 for the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee …

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The grandstands did not fill up quite like they did for Seattle’s Fred Couples, but Jerry Johnson, the former assistant club professional from Ocean Shore, had his 30 army of followers.

They were loud.

They were anxious.

And in the end, they saw some pretty good golf.

Johnson fell three strokes short of missing the cut, but played the final 12 holes Friday of his second round at the 31st U.S. Senior Open in 3-under-par.

He finished off his tournament with a 72.

“I had a lot of friends and family out there, rooting hard,” the 53-year-old Johnson said. “I …

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Of course, Andrew Putnam would call his big brother, Michael, soon after his shining victory at the 44th Pacific Coast Amateur at the Eugene Country Club in Oregon.

He received congratulations.

Then he offered condolences.

“I told him the course was set up a little tougher than when he won (the 2004 Pacific Amateur) here,” Putnam said.

Putnam’s closing 1-under-par 70 gave him a 7-under 277 total – good enough for a four-stroke victory over California golfer Daniel Miernicki (68), and five shots better than a pair of standouts, Olympia’s Cameron Peck (67) and Australia’s Matthew Stieger (69).

It was …

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31st U.S. SENIOR OPEN

When: Today through Sunday.
Where: Sahalee Country Club, Sammamish.
Course: 6,866 yards, par 70.
Format: Stroke play, 72 holes. 156-man field will be cut to top 70 and ties after two rounds.
Defending champion: Fred Funk (20-under-par 268 total, won by six strokes at Crooked Stick).
Notes: What is it like playing this old-style, tree-lined layout-of-a-gem in the Northwest? The professionals have been signing the same tune all week: We don’t see courses this narrow on the Champions Tour. Veteran Tom Watson compared it to being “at a bowling alley.” With …

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Amid a heavy load of responsibility – the U.S. Senior Open this week, the upcoming U.S. Ryder Cup as the new captain – American Corey Pavin, a former U.S. Open winner, was asked Wednesday if he’d seen Chambers Bay.

Come to find out, Pavin will get a good look at it for the first time Sept. 11 for a corporate outing where he’ll play a round.

“I heard it’s a pretty cool golf course, pretty neat and kind of a linksy course, I believe, so I’m actually looking forward to seeing it and playing it,” Pavin said.

When told the …

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Get Peter Jacobsen in a group for five minutes, and one thing is guaranteed.

The man can crack up The Pope, if needed.

Jacobsen is in the field for this week’s 31st U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish. He won the title in 2004.

The Northwest product from Oregon also does part-time broadcasting work for NBC. He tackled a few topics after his practice round Tuesday:

• On this major being held in back-to-back weeks with the Senior British Open:

“I don’t like that. That is why I didn’t go to the Senior British last week. It’s got to change. It’s a hardship. It’s great playing in the Senior Open, and coming back to the U.S. Senior Open. But it’s a hardship. Everybody you talk to will tell you it’s tough going from one senior major to the next senior major. To put it into perspective, I mean, shoot, we’re seniors – we’re asked to do a lot of things.”

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It might be a good year to be an alternate for the U.S. Senior Open.

A long flight from the Senior British Open has left many of the 50-and-over golfers ragged. Two big names – American Paul Azinger and Zimbabwe’s Nick Price – withdrew Monday for various ailments.

Azinger’s departure opened up a spot for another in-state professional – Spokane’s Gary Lindeblad, who was the first alternate from the qualifying site at Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club in Blaine.

It was a bit of feel-good news around the Northwest. Up until last summer, Lindeblad, 59, spent much of a decade battling Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, often a fatal form of lymphoma.

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Fircrest’s Ken Still can still prowl a golf course, just not at the pace he once did as a three-time PGA Tour winner.

He’s 75 and no longer a tournament professional, but he is still active in the sport. Most days, he can be found racing up and down in a golf cart at Fircrest Golf Club in between private lessons on an isolated range on the northeast end of the property.

Still won’t be playing in the U.S. Senior Open, which starts Thursday at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish. He did play in eight of those events, with a career-best ninth-place finish in 1991 at Oakland Hills Country Club.

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