Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Final-Round Notebook

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AVONDALE, La. -- The weather-delayed third round officially ended at 10:30 a.m. CT on Sunday, with the final round beginning at 7:21 a.m. in the same pairings as the third round.

Parker McLachlin was extremely efficient with the flat stick this week. (Graythen/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Final Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Andres Romero 275 -13 2. Peter Lonard 276 -12 3. Tim Wilkinson 277 -11 T4. Padraig Harrington 278 -10 T4. Woody Austin 278 -10 T4. Nicholas Thompson 278 -10 T7. Tim Petrovic 279 -9 T7. John Merrick 279 -9 T7. Tommy Armour III 279 -9 T10. Steve Elkington 280 -8 T10. Marco Dawson 280 -8

• Daniel Chopra and Parker McLachlin needed only 100 putts for the week at the TPC Louisiana this week. There have been three other players this season to complete a tournament with 100 or less putts for the week -- Carl Pettersson (98 putts) and Shane Bertsch (100 putts) both at The Honda Classic, and Aaron Baddeley (99 putts) at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

• No player managed to post four rounds in the 60s this week at the TPC Louisiana. Last year Nick Watney became the first Zurich Classic of New Orleans winner to post all four rounds in the 60's (69-67-68-69) since Carlos Franco turned the trick in 2000 when he posted scores of 67-67-68-68. Watney is the only player to post all four rounds in the 60s at the TPC Louisiana course.

• In his first start in New Orleans, Andres Romero (68-275) won by one stroke over Peter Lonard, his first top-10 finish of the season in seven starts. Earlier this year Romero, had finished tied for 17th at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and tied for 30th at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. His previous best finish on the PGA TOUR came last year, when he tied for third at the 2007 British Open Championship.

• Padraig Harrington, who made his third start at the Zurich Classic, tied for fourth Sunday at TPC Louisiana. The Australian has done well in the Crescent City; he tied for ninth in 2005 the first year that the event was played at the TPC Louisiana and in 2006 when the event moved back to English Turn for one year due to Hurricane Katrina he tied for 11th.

• Woody Austin, who made his 12th start at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, has had a lot of success since the event moved to the TPC Louisiana. Austin tied for fourth for his third top-20 at the TPC. Austin now has three top-10s in the event, including a tie for fifth in 2005 and a tie for 18th in 2007.

• Nicholas Thompson recorded a career-best finish on the TOUR with his tie for fourth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It is his third top-10 effort out of 43 career TOUR starts. He finished T6 at the 2006 B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone Resort and already this year he posted a tie for seventh finish at the 2008 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

• The 2005 champion, Tim Petrovic, tied for seventh on Sunday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It is his second top-10 of the season, but only his fifth top-10 on TOUR since he won the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans in a playoff over James Driscoll. His other top-10s since winning in New Orleans in 2005 are a tie for seventh in the 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic, a tie for second at the 2007 Wyndham Championship, a tie for sixth at the 2005 Bank of America Colonial and a tie for sixth at the 2005 INTERNATIONAL.

• John Merrick, who was making his 39th career start on TOUR, tied for seventh in his second start at the TPC Louisiana for his second top-10 of the season (nine starts) and just his third of his career.

• Four players posted back-to-back top-10 finishes this week:

--Rookie Tim Wilkinson recorded his career best finish with his third place effort this week at TPC Louisiana. With last week's tie for sixth at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular, he has now posted back-to-back top-10s for the first time in his career.

--Marco Dawson has also posted top-10s in back-to-back weeks. He closed with a 1-under 71 to tie for 10th this week in New Orleans and last week he tied for sixth in Puerto Rico. It is just the second time since he joined the TOUR in 1991 as a rookie that Dawson has recorded top-10s in back-to-back weeks, he had back-to-back top-10s at the 2003 Buick Invitational (tie for seventh) followed by the Nissan Open (tie for 10th).

--Tommy Armour III is another player with back-to-back top-10 finishes this week. He tied for seventh Sunday in New Orleans after closing with a 6-under 66 and last week he tied for sixth in Puerto Rico Open.

--James Driscoll, who is making his 72nd career professional TOUR start, tied for 12th Sunday thanks to a closing 6-under 66. It is his best finish on TOUR since losing in a playoff to Tim Petrovic in the 2005 Zurich Classic. In fact, his playoff loss in New Orleans is his only career top-10 on TOUR. He did post a tie for 14th earlier this season at the 2008 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am, his only other top-15 finish on TOUR in his career.

• The par-4 sixth hole played to an average of 4.336 and ranks as the fifth hardest hole on the PGA TOUR in 2007.

• Stewart Cink was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard after this third round on Saturday.