Senior British Open: Third-round notebook

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AYRSHIRE, Scotland -- This is the first time in his brief Champions Tour career (19th career start) that John Cook has led an event heading into the final round. He led or shared the lead a total of 11 times on the PGA TOUR and won four times, the most recent coming at the 1996 CVS Charity Classic.

Bruce Vaughan is hanging high on the leaderboard despite an ailing left knee. (Kinnaird/Getty Images)

• The last time he held a lead going into the final round was at the 1997 NEC World Series of Golf where he led by one stroke. He closed with a 74 and slipped to a tie for third, five behind Greg Norman.

• So far this year on the Champions Tour, eight of 18 second/third-round leaders have gone on to win, including the last three leaders.

• John Cook is also bidding for his second win on Tour. He won his second start as a Champions Tour player last October when he came from two strokes behind in the final round to win the AT&T Championship.

• Bruce Vaughan, who trails John Cook by one stroke going into Sunday's final round, will be looking for his first career win in his 33rd career start. His best finish to date was a second-place finish at the 2007 Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

• Tom Watson, a three-time winner of this event, is currently tied for fourth and trails leader John Cook by five strokes.

• Gene Jones continues to play well in his first full season on the Champions Tour. The co-medalist at last year's Champions Tour's National Qualifying Tournament in Florida. Jones is currently tied for sixth after 54 holes. He is currently 25th on the money list with $438,672. He was fourth at the 3M Championship last week and owns five top-10 finishes in 12 starts in 2008.

• Once again, the most difficult hole was No. 11 with an average score of 4.563 (+.563). No. 10 was the second hardest at 4.465 (+.465). The easiest hole on Saturday was No. 4 at 4.592 (-.408). Through three rounds, No. 11 has averaged 4.779 (+.779). If it remains at around that number, it would be the most difficult on the Champions Tour in 2008. No. 17 at Oak Tree CC (Senior PGA Championship) is currently the most difficult at 4.603 (+.603).

• The back nine played more than one stroke higher than the front nine on Saturday. The average was 36.831 compared to 35.593 on the front nine. Seven of the nine most difficult holes were on the back nine.

• The field averaged dropped from 76.756 on Friday to 72.424 on Saturday. After just one player finished under par on Friday (Gary Hallberg), 17 players posted sub-par rounds on Saturday. John Cook and Greg Norman led the way with 4-under-par 67s.