Third-round notebook: Q-school

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Heavy rain showers forced a suspension of play at Bear Lakes Golf Club from 9:07 a.m. until 10:38 a.m. A dangerous situation at 4:05 p.m. then forced the suspension of play for the remainder of the day, with play being called at 4:20 p.m. Temperatures reached 80, with winds out of the S-SE 10-20 mph.

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• The fourth round will begin at 7:30 a.m., with the third round resuming at 9 a.m. Pairings and tee times for the fourth round will remain the same as they were for the third round, however the players will switch courses.

• A total of 20 players failed to finish the third round, with 12 on the Links Course and eight on the Lakes.

• J.P. Hayes (74-67-63-204) posted a 9-under 63 on the Links Course to move into the clubhouse lead after his third round at the 2009 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. He is currently tied at 12-under with first and second-round outright leader Troy Merritt, who will return on Saturday with two holes remaining to complete his round. Graham DeLaet (64/LI) and Brendan Pappas (65/LI) are one back at 11-under 205.

• Rickie Fowler flirted with a 59 on Friday, sitting at 10-under through 13 holes at the par-72 Links Course, but finished bogey, double-bogey, bogey, par on his last four holes to post 6-under 66. He is at 8 under and currently tied for 13th place.

• When the third round was suspended, Barrett Jarosch continued to lead the field with 20 birdies, two ahead of Scott Stallings. Jarosch (73-66-68) is currently T9.

Low rounds of the day:
Lakes Course - 63, Tommy Gainey (jumped 86 spots from T147 to T61)
Links Course -- 63, J.P. Hayes

Low nine-hole scores of the day:
Lakes Course -- 29, back nine, Tommy Gainey (shot 63, with nine birdies and an eagle)
Links Course -- 30, back nine, Graham DeLaet; front nine, Billy Horschel, Rickie Fowler

• David Duval (71-73-69), making his first Final Stage appearance since 1993, posted a 3-under 69 on Friday at the Links Course to move to 3-under and T36 through three rounds.

• Sunny Kim (20 years, 8 months, 10 days) is the youngest player in the field, followed by Rickie Fowler (20 years, 11 months, 21 days).

• Four players made 2s on par-4 on Friday, all on the Links Course: Brian Stuard (No. 3), Brandt Jobe (No. 9), Chris Riley (No. 10) and Ray Beaufils (No. 12).

• Joe Affrunti (71) had a hole-in-one on the Lakes Course at the par-3, 218-yard 13th hole.

Bogey-free rounds on Friday:
Links (63, J.P. Hayes; 64, Joe Ogilvie; 65, Brendan Pappas; 67, Kris Blanks; 68, Stephen Poole, Robert Gates; 69, Chris Kirk)
Lakes (68, David McKenzie, Nick Malinowski; 69, Brendan Steele)

• Of the 170-man field, Esteban Toledo has the most appearances at final stage since 1990, with 12 starts. He sits at T50 after rounds of 76-69-69. Toledo is coming off of a 29th-place finish on the Nationwide Tour money list. Next on the list (and in the field) with 11 starts at Q-School Finals since 1990 are Jeff Brehaut and Vance Veazey.

• Three past Q-School medalists are participating this week at Bear Lakes, including 2003 winner Mathias Gronberg (T61), 2002 champion Jeff Brehaut (T23) and 1992 co-medalist Skip Kendall (T104).

• Final Stage saw 170 players tee it up after over 1300 applications were taken for the TOUR Qualifying Tournament, which included five pre-qualifying sites, 13 first-stage sites and six second-stage sites. Here's a breakdown of the numbers:

• 436 players participated at five pre-qualifying sites (224 successful)

• 908 players participated at 13 first-stage sites (305 successful)

• 469 players participated at six second-stage sites (132 successful)

• 170 players playing in Final Stage (including 34 exempt players and four Nationwide Tour Top 25)

• Of the 170-man field, 77 players earned their ticket into the six-day event by successfully navigating the first two stages of Q-School. Of those players, four had to additionally go through the pre-qualifying tournament: Mark Anderson (T97), Ray Beaufils (T50), Sunny Kim (T118), Grant Leaver (167).

• By the numbers ... The top 25 players and ties at the conclusion of the tournament will receive 2010 PGA TOUR cards, while the next number of players nearest 50 will receive full status on the Nationwide Tour. All remaining players will have conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.