JELD-WEN Tradition: Third-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff SUNRIVER, Ore. -- Third-round co-leaders Mark McNulty and David Edwards have never been in this position in a Champions Tour event after 54 holes. Edwards' lone victory when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes came at the 1993 MCI Heritage Classic. Edwards led or shared the lead eight times on the PGA TOUR.  The gorgeous 18th hole at Crosswater is also the toughest test on the course so far this week. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
• This marks the third straight year there have been co-leaders after 54 holes of the JELD-WEN Tradition. Bobby Wadkins and Lonnie Nielsen shared the lead last year and Gil Morgan and Doug Tewell were tied in 2005. • It hasn't been a good year for 54-hole leaders in Champions Tour events in 2007. None of the three previous 54-hole leaders has gone on to win. Eduardo Romero (Senior PGA Championship/two strokes), Tom Watson (Senior U.S. Open/three strokes) and Stewart Ginn (Senior British Open/1 stroke) all failed to hold on in the final round. • The winner of Sunday's event will receive 780 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race based on double points being awarded in major championships this year. Jay Haas (currently tied for 16th) is the current leader with 2,213 points, followed by Brad Bryant (tied for 24th) with 2,019. Loren Roberts (1,560 and currently tied for eighth), Denis Watson (1,276 and currently tied for 20th) and Hall of Famer Tom Watson (1,242 and currently tied for fourth) round out the top five. • Of the 16 JELD-WEN Traditions that have gone 72 holes, seven have been won by the leader/co-leader after three rounds. However, the last third-round leader to go on to win the event was Doug Tewell in 2001. • David Edwards' bogey-free streak ended after 44 holes when he made a bogey at No. 9 on Saturday. • Three past champions -- Tom Kite (2000), Tom Watson (2003) and Loren Roberts (2005) -- are currently in the top 10. Kite and Watson are tied for fourth, while Roberts is tied for eighth. • The course yardage for Saturday's third round measured 7,522 yards, the longest in Champions Tour history, surpassing the 7,508-yard set-up on Friday at Crosswater. • Keith Fergus was assessed a two-stroke penalty after his round for inadvertently testing the condition of a hazard on hole No. 17 (Rule 13-4). The two-stroke penalty left Fergus at 8-under-par 208 going into Sunday's final round, four strokes behind the co-leaders. • Saturday's scoring average was the highest of the three rounds at 72.873, an increase from Friday's average of 72.304. The field averaged 72.595 in the opening round. Only nine players finished with rounds in the 60s, the fewest of the first three rounds and 24 finished under par, also the lowest total in three rounds. • Fred Funk closed in on a top-10 finish after a second consecutive 3-under-par 69 on Saturday. He is among three players tied for 11th place. • David Eger, Jerry Pate, Rod Spittle, Tom Watson and Gil Morgan led all players, hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation on Saturday. Des Smyth had the fewest putts with 22. Denis Watson had the day's longest drive, a 333-yarder at No. 11. • Ed Dougherty, Jay Sigel, Gil Morgan, Boonchu Ruangkit, Graham Marsh, Wayne Grady and Tom Watson all hit 14 of 18 fairways. • Mark McNulty had hit 43 consecutive fairways starting the day but that string ended when he missed the first fairway. McNulty leads all players with 19 birdies, two more than Tom Watson and Scott Simpson. Don Pooley is the only player in the field with two eagles through the first three rounds. • After 54 holes, No. 18 is the most difficult hole with a scoring average of 4.316 (+.316), but No. 17 is a very close second at 3.312 (+.312). The par-5 second hole remains the easiest after 54 holes at 4.751 (-.249). |
