Third-round notebook – Sony Open in Hawaii
* After successfully Monday Qualifying and making the cut to earn a spot in the field of the 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii, 18 year-old Tadd Fujikawa achieved his greatest feat of the week by firing an 8-under 62 in round three of the Sony Open in Hawaii.* Should Tadd Fujikawa go on to win, he would become the first Monday Qualifier to do so since Fred Wadsworth achieved the feat at the 1986 Southern Open.
* Johnny McDermott is on record as being the youngest winner ever on the PGA Tour. In 1911, McDermott won the U.S. Open at the age of 19 years, 11 months.
* Tadd Fujikawa’s previous best score in a competitive round was a 7-under 65. His 8-under 62 in round three is one stroke shy of the Waialae Country Club course record set by David Toms, who fired a third-round 61 in 2006. The Tournament record belongs to Davis Love III, who shot a second-round 60 in 1994 when the Tournament was played at Walalae Country Club.
* The key to Tadd Fujikawa’s success in round three was a matter of accuracy. In both rounds one and two, Fujikawa hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation. In round three, however, he improved that stat by hitting 14 of 18 greens in regulation.
* While Tadd Fujikawa’s 8-under 62 in round three to take a share of the then-8-under lead was clearly the round of the Tournament thus far, it was not a lead that would hold up. Playing in his fourth Sony Open in Hawaii, Zach Johnson fired a third-round 4-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over David Toms, Brian Gay, Shigeki Maruyama and Nathan Green.
* The key hole to Zach Johnson’s success through the first three rounds has been the par-5 ninth. With eagles in rounds one and two, followed by a birdie in round-three, Johnson has played the ninth in 5-under.
* Zach Johnson is 50-50 at closing the deal with a victory after holding a 54-hole lead. At the 2004 AT&T Classic, he led by three strokes after round three, which he parlayed into victory. At the 2006 INTERNATIONAL, he held a single-shot lead through 54 holes, ultimately to finish T13.
* Zach Johnson is competing in his fourth Sony Open in Hawaii, where he has previously experienced marginal success. He missed the cut in his first start here in 2004, finished T47 in 2005 and claimed his best finish in the form of T32 honors last year.
* Charles Howell III fired a 3-under 67 in round three to get to 8-under-par, just two strokes behind leader Zach Johnson. Howell has certainly fared better on the front nine as opposed to the back. Through three rounds, he has played the front nine in seven-under as opposed to the back, on which he has played in just 1-under.
* Charles Howell III has enjoyed a lot of success at Waialae. Of his previous seven starts here, he has posted three top-five finishes, including T2 honors in 2007, due largely to a 7-under 63 in the second round.
* Since next week’s 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer is an Invitational Tournament, any player who finishes inside the top 10 this week not otherwise exempt earns entry into the FBR Open in two weeks.
* Casey Wittenberg, who finished T13 at the 2004 Masters Tournament (the lowest by an amateur at the Tournament since Charlie Coe's ninth-place finish in 1962), posted the first ace of the season on Saturday with a 4-iron from 201 yards on the fourth hole at Waialae Country Club. Five holes later, Wittenberg posted another eagle at the par-five ninth.
* Bill Haas and Cameron Beckman each eagled the par-five ninth and par-five 18th holes
* Scoring Averages:
Front 9 Back 9 Total
Thursday 35.590 35.736 71.326
Friday 34.430 35.683 70.113
Saturday 34.510 34.530 70.520
* The par-4 13th hole played the toughest on Saturday, yielding a 4.167 average and just two birdies. Not surprisingly, the par-five ninth hole was the easiest at 4.231.
* There were six bogey-free rounds in the third-round.
Return to Tournament Notebook archives