Stewart Cink is making a strong case for back-to-back senior major titles. The 52-year-old golfer extended his lead to three strokes on Saturday at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Alabama, despite challenging wind conditions at Greystone Golf Club.

After posting impressive back-to-back 7-under 65s to open the tournament, Cink carded a 1-under 71 in the third round, bringing him to 15-under 201 overall. The Alabama native, who grew up in Florence, is looking to add another trophy to his collection following his victory at the Senior PGA Championship in Florida just two weeks ago—his third win of the year on the PGA Tour Champions.

"Overall today it was just a lot harder day to score," Cink explained. "I wasn't quite as sharp either as I was the first couple days, but sometimes the golf course just turns on you a little bit. The wind direction on a lot of the holes was awkward and it was difficult to pick out a lot of the gusts in the direction of it."

With winds gusting up to 20 mph, Cink showed resilience, bouncing back from a double bogey on the par-5 15th with a birdie on the par-3 14th and another on the par-5 18th. "The birdie at the last was nice," he said. "That was some pretty good shots. But the double on the 15th hole was what happens when you hit a whole bunch of bad shots in one hole. You get a bad score."

Hot on his heels is 62-year-old Colin Montgomerie, who shot a 67 to sit alone in second place. "This is the beauty of the game of golf that age is just a number," Montgomerie said. "If it was any other sport, you would be well gone by now."

Doug Barron (69) and Steven Alker (71) are tied for third at 10 under, while the rest of the field looks to close the gap in Sunday's final round.

Cink's stellar season includes wins at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii, the Hoag Classic, and the Senior PGA. With seven career senior titles to his name—plus eight PGA Tour victories, including a memorable playoff win over Tom Watson at the 2009 British Open—he's proving age is just a number for him, too.

Adding to the excitement, Cink was announced as an assistant captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team during Saturday's Kentucky Derby broadcast. He'll join Justin Leonard in supporting captain Jim Furyk at next year's matches at Adare Manor in Ireland.