Nationwide Tour Championship: Third-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff LAKESIDE, Calif. -- Richard Johnson, a 35-year-old native of Cardiff, Wales, fired a topsy-turvy 4-under 67 on Saturday to move to 16-under 197 and a one-stroke lead over Tom Scherrer at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek. Johnson's round included a stellar 5-under 30 on the front nine, a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 11th hole and three consecutive birdies on the last three holes.  Richard Johnson is playing in the final group on Sunday for the sixth time this season. (Horner/WireImage)
• At 16 under, Richard Johnson will be paired with Tom Scherrer (15 under) in the final group on Sunday. It will mark the sixth time this season that Johnson has played in the final group on Sunday. • Should Johnson win on Sunday, his season earnings would move to $445,421. Current leading money-winner Roland Thatcher would need to finish fourth or better to retain his No. 1 spot. A solo fourth-place finish would give Thatcher a $1,477 advantage over Johnson. • Scott Gardiner posted the round of the day with an 8-under 63, shattering the previous lowest third-round score in Nationwide Tour Championship history by two strokes. The previous low third-round score of 65 was posted on four occasions, by Tim Loustalot (1994), Tom Scherrer (1994), Jeff Gallagher (2000) and Ricky Barnes (2006). Had it not been for Gardiner, John Kimbell's 64 on Saturday would have been the new benchmark. • Second-round leader Michael Letzig (73) appeared in the driver's seat on Saturday until a four-putt from 30-feet on the par-4 18th hole led to a triple bogey. Letzig's original 30-footer for par came to a rest three feet from the hole and he subsequently missed two 3-footers before making the same length putt for the triple bogey. He'll enter the final round two strokes behind Johnson. • Johnson's 54-hole total of 16-under 197 is a new Nationwide Tour Championship record. The previous best 54-hole mark was held by Chris Couch (66-67-65--198) in 2003. • Nationwide Insurance and the PGA TOUR are donating $100 for every birdie recorded this week for a total donation of $200 per birdie. The money will be directed to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund to help benefit the victims of last week's fires that raged through San Diego County and other parts of Southern California. So far this week, a total of $154,600 has been donated. • The third-round leader has gone on to win 11of 13 72-hole events at the Nationwide Tour Championship, including most recently David Branshaw in 2005. • In 2007, the Nationwide Tour has had 16 of 31 third-round leaders eventually step into the winner's circle, including most recently Marc Turnesa at last week's Miccosukee Championship. • Bogey-free rounds on Saturday were turned in by John Kimbell (64), Brad Elder (65), Brock Mackenzie (68) and Rick Price (67), bringing the total for the week to 19. • The third-round scoring average of 68.286 was exactly the same as the second-round average. • If the cumulative average doesn't take a sharp upturn on Sunday, it will mark the lowest weekly scoring average in tournament history. The current cumulative average is 68.244, while the all-time record stands at 68.980 (2007 Cox Classic). • The toughest hole on Saturday was the par-4 18th hole with an average of 4.357, while the par-5 first hole and the par-5 13th hole played shared the easiest spot at 4.411. |
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