Round 3 Notes – AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
Third-Round Notes – Saturday, February 9, 2008Two-time PGA TOUR winner Dudley Hart and 31-time TOUR winner Vijay Singh sit tied atop the leaderboard at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with 54-hole totals of 9-under 207.
This marks the fifth time in Hart’s PGA TOUR career in which he has been a leader/co-leader through 54 holes:
Year Event Scores Finish
1996 RBC Canadian Open 68-64-70—202 WON
1994 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 65-71-70-78—284 T7
1993 Chrysler Classic of Tuscon 66-66-69-73—274 T3
1992 Chrysler Classic of Tuscon 69-69-65-71—274 T4
Hart’s T7 finish at the 1994 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is his only top-10 effort at this event in 11 attempts.
This marks the 31st time in Singh’s PGA TOUR career in which he has been a leader/co-leader through 54 holes. He has claimed 19 titles when in that position and has never finished outside the top-five.
Singh has played four events on the PGA TOUR this year without a single top-10 finish. The last time he failed to record a single top-10 in his first five events of the year was in 1997 when his first top-10 came in his 10th start, a win at the Memorial Tournament.
Hart is playing on a Major Medical Extension in 2008 and has 15 events to earn $485,931, which would combine with his 2007 earnings ($299,249) to equal No. 125 on the 2007 money list ($785,180). Hart was limited to 12 starts on the PGA TOUR last year after his wife Suzanne was diagnosed with a non-smoking related tumor in her lungs in May and subsequently had two-thirds of one of her lungs removed. Coupled with his 2008 earnings of $10,971, Hart needs to finish in a two-way tie for second to earn full exempt status for the year.
The leaders’ 54-hole total of 9-under 207 is the highest total to lead after three rounds at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am since Mark O’Meara led with 7-under 209 in 1990.
The third-round leader/co-leader of the last five AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams has gone on to win the event:
Year Player 54-hole standing Result
2007 Phil Mickelson Tied w/ Sutherland WON
2006 Arron Oberholser Tied w/ Weir WON
2005 Phil Mickelson 7-shot lead over Owen WON
2004 Vijay Singh Tied w/ Oberholser WON
2003 Davis Love III 2-shot lead over 3 players WON
While the leaderboard currently looks crowded, history shows the likelihood of a Sunday playoff is slim. The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am currently has the second-longest playoff drought on the PGA TOUR. The last playoff at Pebble Beach came in 1992 when Mark O’Meara defeated Jeff Sluman on the first playoff hole to claim the fourth of his record five titles. THE PLAYERS Championship currently has the longest drought, dating back to 1987 when Sandy Lyle defeated Sluman on the third playoff hole.
PGA TOUR rookie Dustin Johnson continued his solid play on Saturday with a round of 68 at Pebble Beach. The former Coastal Carolina University All-America standout leads all rookies in FedExCup points and currently sits in 30th on the FedExCup points list after only three starts.
PGA TOUR rookie Jason Day will be 20 years, two months, and 30 days old on Sunday. Should he win, he would be the fourth youngest winner in TOUR history:
Player Tournament Age
Johnny McDermott 1911 U.S. Open 19 years, 10 months
Gene Sarazen 1922 Southern Open 20 years, five days
Chick Evans 1910 Western Open 20 years, one month, 15 days
Dustin Johnson (T3), Michael Allen (T3), Jeff Quinney (T5), Ryan Armour (T5), Y.E. Yang (T5), Jason Day (T5), and Fredrik Jacobson (T5) are seven players in the top 10 looking for their first PGA TOUR victory. Below lists the first-time winners at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am:
Year Player
1939 E.J. "Dutch" Harrison
1940 Ed Oliver
1942 John Dawson
1947 Ed Furgol and George Fazio
1950 Jack Burke, Jr. and Smiley Quick
1957 Jay Hebert
1966 Don Massengale
1981 John Cook
1988 Steve Jones
1993 Brett Ogle
2002 Matt Gogel
2006 Arron Oberholser
Unfortunately, experience is what counts the most at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Only five players since 1970 (and two since 1993) have made the AT&T their first win on the PGA TOUR: John Cook (1981), Steve Jones (1988), Brett Ogle (1993), Matt Gogel (2002) and Arron Oberholser (2006).
Four past champions of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am are competing this week: Vijay Singh (2004), Davis Love III (2001 and 2003), Phil Mickelson (1998, 2005, 2007) and Peter Jacobsen (1995).
Past Champions Leaderboard through 36 holes:
- Davis Love III (2001, 2003) 70-71-72—213 T26
- Vijay Singh (2004) 70-70-67—207 T1
- Phil Mickelson (1998, 2005, 2007) 71-72-78—221 MC
- Peter Jacobsen (1995) 73-75-78—226 MC
Defending champion Phil Mickelson missed the 54-hole cut for only the third time in his 13 trips to the Monterey Peninsula.
Rounds of the day:
Pebble Beach G.L. Poppy Hills G.C. Spyglass Hill G.C.
67 – Bo Van Pelt 67 – Poppy Hills 67 – Nick Watney
68 – Ryan Armour 68 – Greg Owen 67 – Vijay Singh
68 – Dustin Johnson
68 – Y.E. Yang
68 – Tag Ridings
There were four bogey-free rounds on Saturday: Dudley Hart (SH), Y.E. Yang (PB), Tag Ridings (PB) and Ted Purdy (PB).
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