Fry's Electronics Open: Third-Round Notes  PGA TOUR Staff Saturday's weather was sunny and pleasant in the morning with lows in the low-70s. Sunny and much warmer in the afternoon with highs reaching the low-90s. Winds were from the SW at 10-20 mph. Sunday is expected to be sunny, breezy and warm with highs in the low-80s with winds increasing to 20-30 mph in the afternoon.  Carl Pettersson carded six birdies and no bogeys in the calm conditions on Saturday. (Ehrmann/WireImage)
Third-round leader Carl Pettersson will be seeking his third career victory on Sunday and his third in as many years. He won the 2005 Chrysler Championship and the 2006 the Memorial Tournament. His best finish in 2007 has been a trio of fifth-place finishes, the most recent coming at the Turning Stone Resort Championship where he was T5. Pettersson has earned $1,790,912 in 2007 and is currently 39th on the money list. Pettersson has won two of three events when he has led or been tied for the lead after 54 holes. He led Woody Austin by two strokes at the 2006 Memorial Tournament and won by two strokes and was tied with Steve Lowery at the Chrysler Championship before posting a one-stroke victory. The lone blemish came at the 2005 Deutsche Bank Championship when he was one of six players tied after 54 holes. He eventually finished T4 at the event. So far in 2007, 14 of 43 tournaments have been won by the Saturday leader or co-leader, including last week's Frys.com Open where George McNeill prevailed. Mike Weir and Mark Hensby, who trail Pettersson by one stroke heading into Sunday's final round, are both seeking their first victories since 2004. Weir will be looking to end a winless streak of 86 events, while Hensby's streak is 72 events. The field averaged 69.987 on Saturday, an increase from Friday's average of 69.708. Hole No. 7 remains the most difficult after 54 holes with an average score of 4.333 (+.333), while No. 15 remains the easiest at 3.592 (-.408). However, the toughest holes to make a birdie on Saturday were Nos. 13 and 18. No. 18 was the day's most difficult hole with an average score of 4.333 (+.333). Australian rookie Jarrod Lyle could be in line for the best finish of his brief PGATOUR career. He is currently T4 and trails Carl Pettersson by three strokes. His best finish this year has been a T12 at the Reno-Tahoe Open. Lyle and Pettersson shared honors for the day's low round -- 6-under-par 64 -- and both posted bogey-free rounds, the only players to do so. Lyle's 6-under-par 64 tied his career-best round on the PGA TOUR. He also fired a 64 in the second round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship. Second-round leader Ryan Moore shot a 1-over-par 71 to slip to T4 going into the final round and trails by three strokes. Mark Hensby leads all players with the fewest putts (80), while George McNeill is the Driving Distance leader at 325.8. Tim Clark, Joe Durant and Jeff Gove are the co-leaders in Driving Accuracy at 85.71 and Bo Van Pelt leads in Greens in Regulation at 87.04. Justin Leonard (T6) ran his streak of consecutive par/better rounds to 12 with a 5-under-par 65. Of those dozen rounds, 10 have been in the 60s and 11 have been under par. He was victorious in his last start at the Valero Texas Open. |
