The biggest star at The Broadmoor didn’t qualify for the tournament, but drew a five-deep crowd around the first tee box Saturday.

John Elway played the role of the honorary chairman to perfection, hobnobbing with players, mingling with guests and simply being No. 7.

“John Elway, I’m open,” a fan, about 4 years old, shouted from atop his father’s shoulders. The legend then walked over to say hello.

“All the people in Colorado love sports,” Elway said while joining Joe Buck and Paul Azinger on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast from the U.S. Senior Open. “They’re great fans and that’s why you see the great following out here today.”

Elway added an extra level of respect for the players, having shot an 80 in a U.S. Senior Open qualifying round on the same East Course that yielded eight rounds in the 60s Saturday.

“You don’t appreciate it on TV nearly as much as when you get a chance to see them swing,” Elway said. “Not only is the rough tough, but once they get to the greens they’ve got their hands full.”

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Petrovic comforts young fan who picked up ball

Tim Petrovic — leading the tournament at the time — pushed his drive to the right on No. 17, where it bounded a few times on the cart path and rested in the rough. A young fan then ran up, slid as though he was heading for second base, and picked up the ball before his brother could get to it.

He was quickly told to drop it, and Petrovic played a drop from that spot – laying up in the fairway and taking a bogey. But before he hit, Petrovic conversed with the fan.

“When I got to the ball it looked like he was about to lose it, he was really upset,” Petrovic said. “I just made a comment, I said, ‘Hey, next time you do that why don’t you just kick it back towards the fairway instead.’ He thought that was pretty funny, so that kind of put the fire out.

“I didn’t want to make him feel like it was OK to do that, I just wanted to make him feel like it’s not the end of the world. It’s only a major, no big deal.”

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Langer in position to keep streak alive

Bernhard Langer’s remarkable streak remained very much reachable after he shot a third-round 66 that tied with David Toms and Brandt Jobe for low score of the day.

Langer, a two-time Masters champion, has finished in the top 23 of each of the 39 senior majors he has played – a run that includes 10 victories. He hasn’t missed the top 20 since 2009 and tied for sixth when he was at The Broadmoor in 2008.

At 4-over par for the tournament, eight behind the leader, Langer didn’t feel he’s entering Sunday in serious contention to win.

“I don’t think so, not for the win,” the 60-year-old German said. “But every place forward is better. Gets more money, more Schwab Cup points; but I don’t think I’m going to have a chance to win.

“But you never know, we could get some crazy winds.”

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The Broadmoor dodges weather

Lightning and hail were found throughout the Colorado Springs area Saturday, but never close enough to The Broadmoor to postpone play.

At one point the television cameramen were called off their towers, making for some rough spots in the Fox Sports broadcast that it patched with replays from earlier in the round, but that was the extent of the interruption.