Players prepare for Sunday shootout at Congressional

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BETHESDA, Md. -- Picture rush hour on the Beltway. That's how crowded the leaderboard at the AT&T National is after three rounds.

A total of 15 players are within five strokes of the lead held by Tom Pernice Jr. And Congressional Country Club, which has hosted three major championships and its 10th PGA TOUR event this week, is being surprisingly generous.

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Steve Stricker finished second at the 2007 AT&T National.

AT&T National

Leaderboard

Pos. Player Score to par 1 Tom Pernice, Jr. -10 2 Steve Stricker -9 T3 Tommy Armour III -8 T3 Nick O'Hern -8 T3 Jeff Overton -8 T6 Tim Herron -7 T6 Anthony Kim -7 T6 Cliff Kresge -7 T9 Dean Wilson -6 T9 Robert Allenby -6

"I think it will be a fun duel tomorrow," said Tim Herron, who starts the final round at 7 under and three strokes behind Pernice. "It's anybody's ballgame. I think there's probably 20, 25 guys with a chance of winning; if not more."

The man at the top of the leaderboard, though, says that's the case nearly every week on the PGA TOUR. And the 48-year-old Pernice, a two-time winner whose last victory came in 2001, has more than 16 years of experience to draw on.

"Very few weeks is there one guy that's running away with the tournament," said Pernice, who seized sole possession of the lead when a spot-on 7-iron at the 17th hole left him 33 inches for birdie.

"Scores, especially this year, have been bunched quite a bit and there's a lot of people that have the opportunity to win golf tournaments. Ultimately on Sunday, you have to step up to the plate and get it done."

That's what makes Pernice respect Tiger Woods, the ailing host of this second-year event, so much. The world's No. 1 has played in 222 PGA TOUR events since turning pro in 1996 and won 65 of them, which gives him a winning percentage of 29.27.

"He has the knowledge and I think the trust in himself and he seems to get it done most of the time," Pernice, who shot 69 on Saturday, said. "My hat is off for him to be able to do that."

Steve Stricker, the runner-up in the inaugural AT&T National, trails Pernice by one shot. He picked up his fourth PGA TOUR victory last summer at The Barclays, the first event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, to end a six-year drought.

"For me, I've won four times, and I've been out here 15 years," Stricker said. "So it's not like I win like Tiger, four times to six or seven or eight times a year. Guys who win a lot, they are familiar with that position; I am not very familiar with that position. I mean, I have been close over the last few years, but still, I've won one time ... since 2001.

"It's still a challenge. It still is very difficult to do. I'll be fighting with nerves and everything tomorrow just like everybody else, but you know, you've just got to try to fight through that. I've just shown over my career, guys can play poorly and then all of a sudden jump out and win."

Spoken like a true two-time Comeback Player of the Year. After a brief dip, the 41-year-old Stricker appears to have recaptured the form that he displayed at the start of the 2008 season when he finished among the top 14 in seven of his first nine tournaments.

"And now I'm trying to kick myself in the butt a little bit more and get fired up," Stricker said. "I've got a stretch run here to try to make this Ryder Cup team, so I've got a lot on the line. Probably about four more events left, so trying to work at it a little bit harder and get a little more focus for this last little bit."

Should Pernice win, he'd be the oldest champion on TOUR since Fred Funk captured the 2007 Mayakoba Golf Classic at the age of 50 years, 8 months and 12 days. He's one of only six players who have shot in the 60s each of the first three rounds and his 63 on Friday tied the tournament record.

"There's a bunch of guys on the leaderboard that are four or five shots back that have a great opportunity," Pernice said. "I've got to go out there and perform better and shoot a good score to win a golf tournament. I can't worry about anything else.

"It's just a matter of me being able to control my emotions and go out there and be able to execute and do what I need to do."