Sony Open in Hawaii: Third-round notebook
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff
HONOLULU -- After successfully Monday Qualifying and making the cut to earn a spot in the field of the 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii, 18-year-old Tadd Fujikawa achieved his greatest feat of the week by firing an 8-under 62 in Round 3 of the Sony Open in Hawaii on Saturday.
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• Should Fujikawa go on to win, he would become the first Monday Qualifier to do so since Fred Wadsworth achieved the feat at the 1986 Southern Open.
• Johnny McDermott is on record as being the youngest winner ever on the PGA TOUR. In 1911, McDermott won the U.S. Open at the age of 19 years, 11 months.
• Fujikawa's previous best score in a competitive round was a 7-under 65. His 8-under 62 in Round 3 is one stroke shy of the Waialae Country Club course record set by David Toms, who fired a third-round 61 in 2006. The tournament record belongs to Davis Love III, who shot a second-round 60 in 1994 when the tournament was played at Wailalae.
• The key to Fujikawa's success in Round 3 was a matter of accuracy. In both rounds 1 and 2, Fujikawa hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation. In Round 3, however, he improved that stat by hitting 14 of 18 greens in regulation.
• While Fujikawa's 8-under 62 in Round 3 to take a share of the then-8-under lead was clearly the round of the tournament thus far, it was not a lead that would hold up. Playing in his fourth Sony Open in Hawaii, Zach Johnson fired a third-round 4-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Toms, Brian Gay, Shigeki Maruyama and Nathan Green.
• The key hole to Johnson's success through the first three rounds has been the par-5 ninth. With eagles on Thursday and Friday, followed by a birdie in Round 3, Johnson has played the ninth in 5 under.
• Johnson is 50-50 at closing the deal with a victory after holding a 54-hole lead. At the 2004 AT&T Classic, he led by three strokes after round three, which he parlayed into victory. At the 2006 INTERNATIONAL, he held a single-shot lead through 54 holes, ultimately to finish tied for 13th.
• Johnson is competing in his fourth Sony Open in Hawaii, where he has previously experienced marginal success. He missed the cut in his first start here in 2004, finished tied for 47th in 2005 and claimed his best finish in the form of a tie for 32nd last year.
• Charles Howell III fired a 3-under 67 in Round 3 to get to 8 under par, just two strokes behind leader Johnson. Howell has certainly fared better on the front nine as opposed to the back. Through three rounds, he has played the front nine in 7 under as opposed to the back, which he has played in just 1 under.
• Howell has enjoyed a lot of success at Waialae. Of his previous seven starts here, he has posted three top-five finishes, including tie for second honors in 2007, due largely to a 7-under 63 in the second round.
• Since next week's 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer is an Invitational tournament, any player who finishes inside the top 10 this week not otherwise exempt earns entry into the FBR Open in two weeks.
• Casey Wittenberg, who finished tied for 13th at the 2004 Masters Tournament (the lowest by an amateur at the tournament since Charlie Coe's ninth-place finish in 1962), posted the first ace of the season on Saturday with a 4-iron from 201 yards on the fourth hole at Waialae. Five holes later, Wittenberg posted another eagle at the par-5 ninth.
• Bill Haas and Cameron Beckman each eagled the par-5 ninth and par-5 18th holes
• Scoring Averages so far this week: Thursday 71.326, Friday 70.113 and Saturday 70.520.
• The par-4 13th hole played the toughest on Saturday, yielding a 4.167 average and just two birdies. Not surprisingly, the par-5 ninth hole was the easiest at 4.231.
• There were six bogey-free rounds in the third round.
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