Third-round notebook – Transitions Championship
* South African Retief Goosen fired a 2-under 69 and will start Sunday’s final-round one stroke behind Tom Lehman. Should he overtake Lehman and claim his seventh win, it would be his first win since the 2005 The INTERNATIONAL, a span of three years, seven months and 15 days. Since that last win, Goosen has amassed 12 top-10s in 62 starts.* Retief Goosen’s last top-10 finish came earlier this year with third-place honors at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
* Through 54-holes, Retief Goosen has avoided a single three-putt and was a perfect 35-for-35 at putts from five feet and in.
* 50 year-old Tom Lehman birdied holes 12-15 in Saturday’s third-round of the Transitions Championship en route to a 3-under 68 to take a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final-round over Retief Goosen. Should he hang on for the win, his sixth on the PGA TOUR, it would be his first since the 2000 Phoenix Open, a span of nine years, one month and 23 days. Between then and now, he has amassed 32 top-10s in 184 starts.
* The last time a player over the age of 50 held a lead at day’s end takes us back to Greg Norman at the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale. Norman held a single-shot lead after the first-round.
* Tom Lehman is coming off a discouraging 2008 season where he finished 142nd on the money list, his lowest rank since 1991. Heading into this week, he has made five starts, in which he missed the cut in the first four. He finished T49 at last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic.
* Playing on a Minor Medical Exemption because of tendonitis in his left elbow, he has six events to earn $176,101 which would combine with his 2008 earnings to equal last year’s No. 125 earnings, to upgrade his status to Major Medical Exemption for the remainder of the 2009 season. So far this year, he has made just $8,658 in five starts, in four of which he missed the cut.
* Tom Lehman has previously held a share of the 54-hole lead 14 times, three of which he won. They were:
1994 Memorial Tournament
1996 British Open Championship
1996 THE TOUR Championship
* The most recent 54-hole lead Tom Lehman held (a share of) was the 2005 Buick Invitational. He ended up finishing T2 to Tiger Woods.
* The story of Tom Lehman this week has been his sporadic play on the par-threes. In round one, he played the five holes in even-par. In round-two, he played them in 1-under and in round three, he fought his way through in 1-over, which included a double-bogey on the par-three fourth hole.
* Odds certainly favor the 54-hole Transitions Championship leader hanging on for the win. Of the previous eight events, six 54-hole leaders have gone on to win. In 2000, John Huston made up a 4-shot deficit to claim victory, and last year, Sean O’Hair came from three behind Stewart Cink’s lead for the win.
* So far this year on the PGA TOUR, 10 off 11 54-hole leaders have gone on to win. (NOTE: Pat Perez was the 54-hole leader of the 50th Bob Hope Classic, a five-round event. In addition, winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Dustin Johnson, won as the 54-hole leader when rain caused the cancellation of the final-round.). Buick Invitational winner, Nick Watney, was the only player to win without holding the 54-hole lead.
* At some point in the third-round, the following players were atop the leaderboard at some point: Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Trevor Immelman, Retief Goosen, Troy Matteson, Rich Beem, Tom Lehman and Jonathan Byrd.
* At day’s end, the top three names on the leaderboard each own at least major championship title.
* 36-hole leaders Nick Watney and Steve Stricker shot 3-over 74 and 2-over 73, respectively.
* Including this week’s second-round, Nick Watney is seven-for-seven at posting a sub-par score in his second-round. His third rounds, however, have given him the most trouble of any round. Now, of his seven third-rounds, he has posted three sub-par rounds, one round of even par and three rounds over par.
* Steve Stricker’s scoring average for the third and fourth rounds headed into this week was exactly the same; 66.75. Before today, he had yet to post anything but a sub-par score in either round of the five in which he had contested.
* Seven players have played in all nine Transitions Championships, including John Huston, who represents Innisbrook Resort and won the first event here in 2000. Here's a look at how those seven players are performing this week;
Billy Andrade MC
Brian Gay 71-69-78 T68
Tim Herron 70-70-72 T22
John Huston 70-73-69 T22
Lee Janzen MC
Billy Mayfair 72-70-73 T47
Shaun Micheel MC
* The only two remaining players who could overtake Geoff Ogilvy’s grip on the FedExCup’s top spot with a win this week are Nick Watney or Kenny Perry. Zach Johnson would’ve been the third, however, he failed to make the cut. Even with a solo second place finish, Watney would still take control of the number one slot.
* Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa struggled on the front-nine in round three, but rebounded nicely on the inward nine. He followed a 6-over 42 on the front with a 2-under 33 on the back for a third-round, 4-over 75.
* K.J. Choi, Rod Pampling and Joe Durant hold the record for most top-10 finishes in the Transitions Championship, each with three. Only Joe Durant can separate himself from the others this week as Choi and Pampling each missed the cut. Durant began the day four shots off the lead, and headed into Sunday’s final round is four-strokes back holding a share of seventh place.
* Locals John Huston and Woody Austin both enjoyed good days in round three with a pair of 2-under 69s.
* Round-three scoring average: Front - 36.811 Back - 35.514 Total – 72.324
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