DEARBORN, Michigan (Ticker) -- Mike McCullough and Hubert Green changed places on the leaderboard Saturday at the Senior Players Championship.

McCullough, who has only four top-10 finishes in 21 starts this year, carded a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Green after three rounds of the year's final major at the TPC of Michigan.

The 57-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona native completed 54 holes at 12-under 204 and is seeking his first win since capturing the Mexico Senior Classic Emerald Coast Classic last season for his only two victories on the Senior Tour.

"I woke up this morning and I had a calm come over me," McCullough said. "I had good control of the golf ball today. When I didn't, I made a par."

Green, who began the day with a three-shot lead over McCullough, continued his inconsistent play this week. After shooting a 71 on Thursday, Green tied a tournament record with a 63 on Friday, only to post another 71 on Saturday.

Still, he kept the pressure on McCullough with consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 that enabled him to finish the round under par.

"It's better to be one back than three back," Green said. "But if I don't do well tomorrow, then I just want to make sure I set a pattern for the rest of the year. I'm striking the ball better than I have been. So if I can get the butterflies off the putter, we'll see what happens."

Sunday, McCullough and Green will play together for the second straight day. They will be joined in the final group by Australian Stewart Ginn, who is four shots off the pace following a 2-under 70.

Ray Floyd made the day's biggest gain, carding a 7-under 65 to climb from a tie for 27th to a tie for fourth at 209 with Doug Tewell, Larry Nelson and Hale Irwin.

Jim Thorpe, who won the Countrywide Tradition, the year's first major, jumped into the top 10 with a 5-under 67 that left him tied for eighth at 210 with Bob Murphy.

Green won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including two majors, and has added three titles since joining the Senior Tour. But he never has won a major on the elder circuit.

McCullough is seeking his first major of any kind. He never won on the PGA Tour, with his best finish being a tie for second at the 1977 Players Championship.

But he will have history on his side as the eight of the 12 third-round leaders or co-leaders have gone on to win this tournament, including the last three years.

McCullough has enjoyed some success in this event with three top-10 finishes in the last four years. He tied for sixth in 1998, tied for fourth in 2000 and tied for sixth last year.

"I'd like to shoot four rounds in the 60s," he said. "If I do, I'll be very happy."

McCullough is 2-over in the tournament on the par-3s, but has played the par-4s in 8-under and the par-5s in 6-under.

He started Saturday's round with a 15-footer for birdie on No. 1, then holed a 35-footer for birdie on the par-5 seventh hole and a 15-footer on the par-4 ninth to make the turn at 3-under.

McCullough sank a four-footer for his final birdie on No. 11, then held onto the lead with seven straight pars. But it wasn't easy as he had to make consecutive 10-footers on Nos. 14 and 15.

"I don't look at Mike McCullough's game positively or negatively," Green said. "You know, I don't worry about Mike McCullough. I've got to worry about Hubert Green. If I play good golf, I'll do well. If not this week, I'll do well well next week."

Green is only 31st on the money list due in part to a mediocre ranking of 46th in putting. The putter betrayed him at times Saturday as he three-putted for bogey on No. 6 and missed a six-footer for par on No. 14.

"Some of the bad putts were just like the ones I hit yesterday that went in the hole," he said. "Today, the good and bad putts didn't go in the hole as often. It was a very shaky round."

Howard Twitty began the day tied for second with McCullough and Irwin, but fell apart. He ballooned to a 5-over 77 that dropped him 10 shots off the lead.

Defending champion Allen Doyle posted a 3-under 69 and is tied for 13th heading into the final round.

The winner of this tournament will join Thorpe, Fuzzy Zoeller (Senior PGA Championship) and Dan Pooley (U.S Senior Open) in the Senior Slam in the Bahamas on November 8-9.