Round 3 Notes – Target World Challenge
Here is how the five first-time players are faring in this event:Zach Johnson 69-67-69—205 -11
Steve Stricker 72-69-69—209 -7
Niclas Fasth 72-72-73—217 +1
Rory Sabbatini 69-81-76—226 +10
Brett Wetterich 73-73-75—221 +5
There have been three third-round leaders/co-leaders who have gone on to win this event over the first eight years:
1999 Tom Lehman tied with Duval shot 67 won by 3
2002 Padraig Harrington led by 6 shot 71 won by 2
2003 Davis Love III led by 3 shot 72 won by 2
Tiger Woods owns a six-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round. Woods has held/shared a third-round lead 44 times on the PGA TOUR (official events only) and has gone on to win 41 times.
1996 Quad City Classic led by 1 shot 72 T5, 4 back
2000 Tour Championship tied with Singh shot 69 2nd, 2 back
2004 Tour Championship tied w/ J. Haas shot 72 2nd, 4 back
Jim Furyk’s double-bogey at the par-3, 15th ended his streak of bogey-free holes at 40. Furyk had made only one hiccup in this event, a bogey-5 on the par-4, 10th hole during the opening round.
Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson have each posted three rounds in the 60s this week. Only five players have accomplished that in tournament history:
2004 Tiger Woods 67-66-69-66—268 -16 won
2004 Padraig Harrington 68-69-67-66—270 -14 2nd
2004 Jay Haas 69-66-67-69—271 -13 T3
2000 Tiger Woods 68-64-67-69—268 -20 2nd
1999 Tom Lehman 68-65-67-67—267 -13 won
Colin Montgomerie has rebounded nicely after an opening-day 80. Monty has bounced back with rounds of 67-69 and stands at even-par 216 after 54 holes. Montgomerie had the only eagle of the day, at the par-5, 11th hole.
Here is a look at the best finish of each of the tournament’s 16 parcipants:
Mark Calcavecchia - 1st appearance
Paul Casey - 2nd appearance - T5 - 2006
Fred Couples - 7th appearance - 4 - 2000
Luke Donald - 3rd appearance - 1st - 2005
Niclas Fasth - 1st appearance
Jim Furyk - 5th appearance - 6 - 2002, 2004
Padraig Harrington - 7th appearance - 1st- 2002
Zach Johnson - 1st appearance
Colin Montgomerie - 6th appearance - T3 - 2004
Rory Sabbatini - 1st appearance
Vijay Singh - 7th appearance - 2 - 2001
Henrik Stenson - 2nd appearance - 4 - 2006
Steve Stricker - 1st appearance
Lee Westwood - 2nd appearance - T11 - 2001
Brett Wetterich - 1st appearance
Tiger Woods - 9th appearance - 1 - 2001, 04, 06
Scoring average for this week:
Round Front 9 Back 9 Total
Thursday 36.191 35.502 71.693
Friday 35.439 33.941 69.380
Saturday 35.878 35.125 71.003
The easiest hole continues to be the 522-yard, 11th hole. The par-5 has yet to see a single over-par score recorded there. Over the first 54 holes, there have been 3 eagles, 26 birdies and 19 pars – resulting in a scoring average of 4.333.
Tiger Woods is making his ninth start in this event and he has posted above-par scores in only three of 35 total rounds. Woods’ only above-par scores were a 4-over 76 in the final round in 1999, a third-round 74 in 2001 and a final-day 73 in 2005.
Tiger Woods owns a six-stroke lead after 54 holes, matching the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history. Padraig Harrington also led by six in 2002. Harrington shot a final-day 71 and won by two shots.
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