Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship: Third-round notebook

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TIMONIUM, Md. -- Nick Price goes for his first victory on the Champions Tour Sunday and could become just the third professional to claim both a PLAYERS Championship (1993) and Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship title. Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd are the only others who have pulled off the double.

Gene Jones is the only player with three straight rounds in the 60s this week. (Gibbons/Getty Images)

Inside the Numbers

54-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Nick Price 202 -8 2. D.A. Weibring 203 -7 T3. Jeff Sluman 204 -6 T3. Gene Jones 204 -6 5. Eduardo Romero 205 -5 T6. Joe Ozaki 206 -4 T6. Jay Haas 206 -4 T6. Tom Jenkins 206 -4 T6. Fred Funk 206 -4 T10. Ronnie Black 207 -3 T10. Bruce Fleisher 207 -3 T10. Mike Goodes 207 -3 T10. Bernhard Langer 207 -3 T10. Ben Crenshaw 207 -3

• For the first time since the 1997 championship, the 54-hole leader has a single digit under-par score, and Nick Price's 8-under 202 total for three rounds is the highest in relation to par for 54 holes since Jim Colbert and Rocky Thompson were at 7-under 209 after play on Saturday at the 1993 Senior Players Championship in Michigan. In 1997, John Bland, Bob Dickson and Larry Gilbert were all tied at 9-under 207 after three rounds at the TPC of Michigan.

• Nick Price leads a major championship heading into the final round for the first time since the 1994 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where he enjoyed a three-stroke lead on Jay Haas and went on to win.

• Gene Jones is the only player in this year's field who has recorded three consecutive rounds in the 60s. Last year, Loren Roberts became the first Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship winner since Gil Morgan in 1998 to record four straight rounds in the 60s.

• The Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship offers the winner a check for $390,000, but all top-10 finishers in the season's final major will also earn double points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. With 780 points on the line for the champion of this event, there's bound to be plenty of drama for the three leading players in the season-long race coming into this week. Jay Haas, the current points leader (2,186) is tied for sixth after 54 holes. Bernhard Langer (2,047) is currently 139 points behind Haas and is tied for 10th through 54 holes this week. Fred Funk (1.964) is currently 222 points behind Haas and is also tied for sixth after three rounds.

• Saturday leaders/co-leaders have claimed 12 of the previous 25 tournaments on the Champions Tour this year. Last year at Baltimore Country Club, Loren Roberts was at 10-under-par 200 through three rounds and led Fred Funk by three strokes. In the history of the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, 54-hole leaders/co-leaders have won this event 11 of 18 times since 1990.

• Saturday's stroke average 71.078 was slightly lower than Friday (71.117) and a bit higher than Thursday (70.462). On Saturday, a total of 21 players recorded sub-par rounds vs. 18 on Friday and 29 on Thursday.

• Jeff Sluman's 6-under 64 included just 25 putts and an eagle on the par-4 sixth hole (pitching wedge from 64 yards) and was the low round of the 2008 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. Sluman's score also matched the tournament record at Five Farms (Tom McKnight, Round 4, 2007) and equaled the best third-round score in championship history (six other players, last was Loren Roberts on Saturday in 2006). The round vaulted Sluman up 24 spots into fourth place.

• The par-4, 452-yard third hole on the East Course at Baltimore Country Club was the hardest in Round 3 (4.325) and only three players made birdie Saturday (Langer, Hatalsky, Reid). The par-4, 389-yard 10th hole played as the second-hardest (4.260) and only three birdies were made (Gene Jones, Mark McNulty, Larry Mize). For the third consecutive day, the par-5, 583-yard fourth hole played as the easiest (4.584 Saturday vs. 4.649 Friday and 4.679 on Thursday).

• Statistical News and Notes: Through 54 holes, Ron Streck has hit the most fairways off the tee (37 of 42). ... Tom Kite and Rod Spittle lead the field in greens hit in regulation (44 of 54). ... Massy Kuramoto has averaged just 27.67 putts per round and he's had 25 one-putts in 54 holes. ... Nick Price has now played his last 36 holes without making a bogey and he, Jeff Sluman and Bruce Fleisher had the only bogey-free rounds of the day.