Jacobson bogey-free through 54 holes, up by 1
Fredrik Jacobson is looking for his first win on Tour in his 188th career start. He has three runner-up finishes on Tour.Jacobson missed his last two cuts at the Travelers Championship in 2007 and 2009. His only other start in Hartford was in 2006 (T48).
Jacobson’s only lead/co-lead on Tour came after the first-round of the 2007 FedEx St. Jude Classic (finished T17).
Jacobson finished T14 last week at the U.S. Open.
Jacobson’s 63 today is his second best score on Tour. He has turned in a 62 on three occasions, most recently at the 2010 Wyndham Championship.
Jacobson is the only player bogey-free after the first three rounds. The last player to win with no bogeys over 72 holes was Lee Trevino at the 1974 Greater New Orleans Open. Charles Howell III is the last golfer to play a 72-hole Tournament without a bogey and not win (2010 Greenbrier Classic).
Third-Round Leader Stats
The third-round leader/co-leader has dropped three of the last four events at the Travelers Championship (Stewart Cink/2008).
The third-round leader/co-leader has won 13 of 25 stroke-play events this season, most recently Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.
The best opening 54-hole score at the Travelers Championship is a 193 held by Tim Norris (1982/1st) and Mark Calcavecchia (2000/2nd).
Bryce Molder (2nd)
Molder is looking for his first win on Tour in his 124th career start.
Molder missed his first two cuts at the Travelers Championship in 2002 and 2007, but has made his last three. His best finish in Hartford is T19 in 2009.
Molder has missed 10 of 18 cuts on Tour this season. His only top 10 this season is T6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
James Driscoll (3rd)
Boston native James Driscoll shot his second straight round of 64 to move into third place. His 128 over the last two rounds is his lowest consecutive rounds on Tour in his 152nd event.
Driscoll is looking for his first top 10 in Hartford in his sixth start. His best finish at Travelers is T27 in 2010.
Driscoll has never recorded two top 10s in a season on Tour. A top 10 this week would be his second of the season (T8 – HP Byron Nelson Championship).
Patrick Cantlay (T10)
The last two amateurs to finish in the top 10 on Tour are Chris Wood (5th) at the 2008 British Open and Justin Rose (T4) at the 1998 British Open.
The World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., will create a display featuring Cantlay’s historic round at the Travelers Championship. The display will include Cantlay’s scorecard, a golf ball and a signed Travelers Championship pin flag.
Cantlay is seeking to become the first amateur winner on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open. Here’s a look at the last three amateurs to win a PGA Tour event:
Phil Mickelson 1991 Northern Telecom Open 1 stroke over Tom Purtzer, Bob Tway
Scott Verplank 1985 Western Open def. Jim Thorpe in a playoff
Doug Sanders 1956 Canadian Open def. Dow Finsterwald in a playoff
Jim Grant’s T2 in 1964 is the best finish by an amateur at the Travelers Championship.
Cantlay (born March 17, 1992) will be 19 years, 3 months and 9 days old on Sunday, which would make him the youngest winner on the PGA Tour (since 1900). The current distinction is held by Johnny McDermott, who won the 1911 U.S. Open at the age of 19 years, 10 months and 14 days.
The youngest winner ever is Tom Morris, Jr., who won the 1868 British Open at the age of 17 years, 5 months and 8 days. He successfully defended that title the following two years – 1869 (18 years, 4 months and 27 days) and 1870 (19 years, 4 months, 26 days).
Here’s a look at the five youngest winners on the PGA Tour since 1900:
Player Tournament Age
Johnny McDermott 1911 U.S. Open 19 years, 10 months, 14 days
Gene Sarazen 1922 Southern Open 20 years, 5 days
*Chick Evans, Jr. 1910 Western Open 20 years, 1 month, 15 days
*Francis Ouimet 1913 U.S. Open 20 years, 4 months, 12 days
Gene Sarazen 1922 U.S. Open 20 years, 4 months, 18 days
*amateur winners
Cantlay earned low amateur honors at last week’s U.S. Open (T21) – his first career start on the PGA Tour.
Should he win on Sunday, Cantlay would have 60 days to accept membership on the PGA Tour, which would run until the end of the 2013 season. If that deadline passes, he could then join the Tour at the end of the 2011 season (and have two years remaining) or at the end of the 2012 season (and have one year remaining). Cantlay recently finished his freshman season at UCLA.
Even without membership on Tour, a win would gain Cantlay entrance into the following events in 2011: AT&T National (is currently in the field via a sponsor’s exemption) and the PGA Championship. He would then have a spot in the following events in 2012: Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Bob Hope Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Masters Tournament, RBC Heritage, THE PLAYERS Championship, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the Memorial Tournament. A non-member is allowed 12 starts in a season, with a maximum of seven sponsor’s exemptions among that total.
If an amateur wins on Tour, first-place FedExCup points are eliminated and first-place money goes to the runner-up.
Nick Watney (T4)
Nick Watney, currently No. 6 in the FedExCup standings, is making his fifth start at the Travelers with T9s in 2005 and 2006 and missed cuts in 2003 and 2007.
Watney is seeking his eighth top-10 finish of the season, which would tie him for tops on Tour with Luke Donald and Matt Kuchar.
D.J. Trahan (T10)
D.J. Trahan is looking for his first top 10 at the Travelers Championship in his seventh start. His best finish in Hartford is T14 in 2009.
Trahan is looking for his third win on Tour (2006 Southern Farm Bureau Classic and 2008 Bob Hope Classic).
J.J. Henry (T16)
J.J. Henry’s only win on Tour came at the 2006 Travelers Championship. He has had two runner-up finishes since.
In 12 previous starts in Hartford, Henry’s only top 10 came when he won in 2006. He has made nine consecutive cuts at the Travelers Championship.
Miscellaneous Notes
There have been seven first time winners on Tour this season. There were 15 on Tour last season.
Six past champions were in the field to start the week at TPC River Highlands:
Champion Year won Scores
Hunter Mahan 2007 71-63-66-—200 (T16)
J.J. Henry 2006 68-67-65-—200 (T16)
Bubba Watson 2010 66-69-69—204 (T52)
Woody Austin 2004 72-67—139 (MC)
Kenny Perry 2009 71-70—141 (MC)
Brad Faxon 2005 72-73—145 (MC)
The Travelers Championship is the fifth event in the six-Tournament series (THE PLAYERS, the Memorial, FedEx St. Jude, U.S. Open, Travelers, AT&T National), where the top two money-winners, not previously exempt, earn British Open exemptions (must be Tour member). Below are the current money standings through four events (THE PLAYERS, the Memorial, FedEx St. Jude, U.S. Open) and their position after the first-round of play at the Travelers Championship:
Player Money Total Position After Third Round
Brandt Jobe $622,055 65-69-67—201 (T28)
Harrison Frazar $1,058,436 not in field
Paul Goydos $646,000 72-68—140 (MC)
Kevin Chappell $411,141 67-70—137 (MC)
Sergio Garcia $403,487 not in field
Fredrik Jacobson, Bryce Molder and James Driscoll are not currently in the British Open field.
Bogey-free rounds:
R1: John Rollins (65), Fredrik Jacobson (65), Vaughn Taylor (65), Brian Davis (65), Sean O’Hair (66), Tim Petrovic (66), Chris DiMarco (66), Chris Stroud (66), Shane Bertsch (67), Spencer Levin (67), Colt Knost (67), Corey Pavin (70)
R2: Patrick Cantlay (60), D.J. Trahan (62), Johnson Wagner (63), Brendan Steele (64), James Driscoll (64), Ricky Barnes (65), Webb Simpson (65), Craig Bowden (65), Nate Smith (65), Fredrik Jacobson (66), Aron Price (66), Zack Miller (66), Blake Adams (66), Jerry Kelly (66), Zach Johnson (68), Colt Knost (68), Chris Riley (68)
R3: Fredrik Jacobson (63), Carl Pettersson (65), Ian Poulter (66), David Toms (69), Bud Cauley (69).
Fredrik Jacobson is bogey-free after the first three rounds. Colt Knost was bogey-free after the first two rounds. Knost recorded his first bogey of the week on his third hole (No. 12) in the third round.
D.J. Brigman had an ace on the 158 yard 11th hole with a 9-iron. It is his first hole-in-one on Tour. Nate Smith had an ace on the 223 yard 5th hole with a 3-hybrid. It is his first hole-in-one on Tour.
Scoring Averages at the par-70 TPC River Highlands:
Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Round 1 34.877 34.143 69.019 ---
Round 2 34.190 33.987 68.176 68.599
Round 3 34.459 33.743 68.203 68.522
The par-4 fourth hole has played the toughest this week, yielding a 4.215 average. The par-5 13th hole is the easiest with a 4.640 average.
Return to Latest News archives