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By Stewart Moore
PGA TOUR Staff

HARRISON, N.Y. -- Steve Stricker carded a third-round 65 Saturday and now takes a one-shot lead over K.J. Choi heading into Sunday's final round of The Barclays. This is Stricker's first 54-hole lead in a PGA TOUR event in more than nine years.

Ernie Els is looking to set a record for top-five finishes at The Barclays. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

SCORING AVERAGES THIS WEEK

Round Front 9 Back 9 Total Thursday 35.540 35.380 70.920 Friday 35.830 35.519 71.348 Saturday 35.533 34.853 70.387

• Complete Coverage

• If Ernie Els (tied for eighth) can finish in the top-five on Sunday, it will be his sixth career top-five at The Barclays, which will be a new tournament best.

• Steve Stricker (12th) is the highest-ranked player on the FedExCup points list who has yet to win in 2007. His three-round total of 14-under-par 199 ties the par-71, 54-hole low at The Barclays, recorded by Ernie Els in 1997 en route to claiming the second of his two titles at Westchester.

• Hunter Mahan's third-round 62 tied the par-71 course record held by Jim Wright (1976, round two). This is the second time this year that Mahan has put his name on a course record (62, Canadian Open, Angus Glen GC-North Course). The round also ties Mahan's personal best in a PGA TOUR event (2007 Travelers Championship, round one; 2007 Canadian Open, round one; 2004 Valero Texas Open, round three) and marks the third time this year that he has carded a round of 62.

• Should Hunter Mahan claim the title at The Barclays Sunday, he would trail only Jonathan Byrd (three) for most TOUR wins by an American-born player in his 20s (Charles Howell III, two wins).

• Steve Stricker has gained a reputation for playing difficult courses extremely well. Of his six top-10 finishes on the year, three came at courses rated in the top-10 in difficulty on the PGA TOUR thus far. They were at The Honda Classic, where he tied for fifth o the 3ighth-ranked course; the AT&T National, where he finished second on the ninth-ranked course; and the Open Championship, where he tied for eighth on the fifth-ranked course.

• In the 42-year history of The Barclays at Westchester Country Club, 23 of 42 players have gone on to win after holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Since 1994, nine 54-hole leaders have gone on to claim the title at Westchester, with the last being Jim Furyk in 2005 (Note: The 1998 tournament was final after 54 holes).

• On the PGA TOUR in 2007, only 10 of 35 leaders/co-leaders through 54 holes have gone on to win.

• Doug Labelle II, currently No. 121 on the FedExCup points list, hit 14 of 14 fairways in round three, joining Vaughn Taylor as the only players to do so.

• Justin Rose recorded the 25th hole-in-one on the 2007 PGA TOUR with a 9-iron on the 139-yard par-3 14th. Hunter Mahan (62) and Steve Flesch (67) were the only players to record bogey-free rounds on Saturday.