Round 3, Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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Apr. 25, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first groups are ready to tee off in today's third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

	Scott Verplank, Todd Hamilton These two veterans tend to thrive in tough conditions. If Saturday becomes a birdie-fest, can they make a charge? Tee time: 8:51 am ET, No. 1 Track 'em
	Kevin Stadler, Ian Poulter Who cares how they're playing? We'll be riveted to this pairing just to enjoy the contrast in sartorial styles. Tee time: 12:20 pm ET, No. 1 Track 'em
	Jerry Kelly, Troy Matteson Kelly's been steadily good, while Matteson shot the week's best round with a 64 Friday. Who'll be hotter on Saturday? Tee time: 12:56 pm ET, No. 1 Track 'em

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent John Maginnes previews Saturday's third round:

Saturday's forecast

Partly cloudy
Temp: 82 high/66 low
The skies will be mostly cloudy early on, shifting to partly cloudy as the day wears on. Winds will blow out of the southeast at 15 to 25 mph.

The PGA TOUR field staff has done an outstanding job of setting up TPC Louisiana so far this week. Rather than stretch the course out to its potential of 7,400 yards, they have varied some holes and moved some tees around to require the players to hit every club in their bags throughout each round. Consequently, in spite of blustery conditions on Friday, scoring has been very good.

Expect this trend to continue throughout the weekend, but also expect the best players in the world to face a slightly tougher test. In the first few years, TPC Louisiana favored the bomber, and certainly length is a huge asset here now, but because of the set-up, sheer length is not necessary to win.

Jerry Kelly and David Toms have never been considered short hitters, but neither has ever fallen into the bomber category, either. Yet they are among the names in good position going into the weekend. With veterans and proven winners like those two and Kenny Perry on the leader board, you can expect the trend of first-time winners in New Orleans to come to an end on Sunday.

Stat of the day

David Toms' 68-68--136 score through two rounds is one shot off his best opening 36-hole total in his history in New Orleans. The Louisiana native, who is making his 16th career start in this event, posted a 66-73--139 total when he won in 2001, but shot rounds of 63-64 over the weekend to defeat Phil Mickelson by two.

NOTEWORTHY NUGGETS:
• Jerry Kelly, the 36-hole leader at 10-under 134, is making his ninth start in New Orleans. He has made the cut in six of eight starts with his only top-10 a tie for fifth in 2003. Kelly's only previous start at TPC Louisiana was in 2005, when he finished tied for 65th.

• Defending champion Andres Romero was disqualified following the second round for signing an incorrect scorecard. Romero signed for a par-5 on No. 18, where he actually made a bogey-6. The last defending champion not to advance to the weekend here was 2005 winner Tim Petrovic, who missed the cut in 2006 by a single stroke.

• Troy Matteson tied the TPC Louisiana course record Friday with an 8-under 64, thanks to seven birdies, an eagle and one bogey. Matteson tied the mark set by Kyle Reifers during the opening round in 2007. Among Mattesons's highlights were chip-in birdies on No. 12 from 50 feet and No. 17 from 51 feet, along with an eagle putt of more than 25 feet on the par-5 seventh hole.

• There were several "birdie clusters" during Friday's play. Among them: Kelly birdied four of six holes to begin the back nine; Toms made four consecutive birdies starting at No. 12; Charles Howell III made five straight birdies starting at No. 7; and David Mathis birdied seven of eight holes starting at No. 13.

Thus far at TPC Louisiana

Round	Leader	Low round (par 72)	Key links
	Charlie Wi (-6)	66: Charlie Wi	Daily Wrap-Up \| Live Report Food, fun and golf \| Notebook
	Jerry Kelly (-10)	64: Troy Matteson	Daily Wrap-Up \| Live Report Food, fun and golf \| Notebook

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today Win McMurry updates action from the second round of the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and previews what to watch for in the third round. Watch it
	Shot of the day George McNeill sticks his tee shot to within a foot on the par-3 17th hole during the second round at TPC Louisiana. Watch it
	Second-round highlights Jerry Kelly leads by a shot going into the weekend at the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Watch it