HP Byron Nelson, Round 3

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Rory Sabbatini is looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR since the 2007 season this week in Texas.

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HP Byron Nelson Championship

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report is on the scene at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and we'll be providing updates all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.) PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | Live Scoring | PGA TOUR Network | Facebook | Twitter | FanZone

THIRD ROUND COMPLETE (3:30 p.m.): Normally, the last group of the HP Byron Nelson Championship would have teed off just a little while ago. Instead, because of impending bad weather in the area, officials moved everyone up, sent them off as threesomes and off both sets of tees. The result? An early finish and a lot of low scores. Only 14 of the 74 players who made the cut shot over par and there were lots of 65s, some 64s and even a 63 on the board.

Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger will take a two-shot lead over a group of three players into tomorrow's final round. You have to like Sabbatini's chances in this spot -- he's more experienced than Mallinger, feels right at home (literally) here and has won twice before when leading after 36 holes, which he did as well this week.

Dustin Johnson is among the group two shots back, but he could have been in much better shape if not for a string of bogeys on the back nine. Still, with the way he's played his last round-a-half, he has as good a chance as any of the eight players who are within four strokes of the lead. -- Brian Wacker

ON THE MARC (3:23 p.m.): It was an ugly morning on the driving range. One shot to the right, another to the left. Another fat.

"Just struggling,'' Marc Leishman said. "Then I started finding the middle and had a really good end to my session.''

Leishman

He took that -- and a hot putter -- into the third round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship ... and shot the lowest score of the week, a 63.

Leishman started -- on the back nine -- with three consecutive birdies, followed that with two bogeys, three more birdies and a par for a 31 on the back, then threw out a 32 on the front to work his way up the leaderboard . . .again.

The young Aussie, who won last year's Nationwide Tour WNB Classic in Midland, Texas, is beginning to hit his stride. After a tie for 12th at the Sony Open in Hawaii early this season, he struggled with his swing. And when he and coach Dennis McDade got together at the Shell Houston Open, they tweaked his swing, which was wind-whipped from early in the year. Then, they got together again last week in San Antonio and adjusted it again. The result was a tie for fifth at the Valero Texas Open.

And Saturday? "I was confident on the first tee and had wedge in my hand on the first well, the 10th was my first,'' he said. "It was a right pin and I felt confident to hit it straight at it, and I hit it reasonably close.''

As for Sunday?

"I've still probably got to shoot lights out tomorrow to be close, I think,'' Leishman said. " . . . I'll probably have to shoot what I shot today again to have a chance. Same mindset as today, just go out and make birdies, and if I can play well and make a few, that's great. We'll just see what happens. " -- Melanie Hauser

LEADERBOARD UPDATE (3 p.m.): It feels odd to say this so early in the day, but the third round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship is nearing its conclusion. There's also been a bit of a change at the top of the leaderboard with Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger now sharing the lead at 13 under.

Dustin Johnson, who opened with birdies on six of his first eight holes, has since gone the other way with four bogeys and just two birdies the rest of the way. His 66 is still a good score, but could have been much, much lower. Still, he is not happy, obviously, with bogeys on two of his last three holes -- especially since he birdied Nos. 16 and 18 yesterday. -- Brian Wacker

LEISHMAN GOES LOW (2:30 p.m.): Save for two bogeys on his final nine holes, Marc Leishman was about as perfect as you could be in his third round. The 25-year-old Aussie had nine birdies and shot a back-nine 31 on his way to a sizzling 63, which is the lowest round of the week so far.

That brings Leishman to 9 under for the tournament and within striking distance of the lead and has him in a somewhat peculiar position of having made two numbers in the black each of his first three rounds.

Leishman made just one putt over 15 feet through his first three rounds, but when you're hitting a lot of greens in regulation, which Leishman has done, that number doesn't hurt you that much. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Leishman's scorecard from today:

STREELMAN IN STRIDE (2:15 p.m.): Kevin Streelman has rocketed up the leaderboard and into contention for the first time since the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, where he finished in a tie for third.

That week in Cancun, Streelman closed with a final-round 64 to record his best career finish on the PGA TOUR and he's at it again today. After just two birdies on the front nine -- on his first two holes -- Streelman has aded five more birdies on the back with just one bogey to get to 10 under for the week.

When you look at Streelman's statistics for this tournament, it's no wonder he's in contention for the first time in more than two months. Today, Streelman has hit 11 of 13 fairways and 15 of 17 greens in regulation. He's also taken just 26 putts. On the week, he ranked 15th in fairways hit, 21st in greens and 15th in putting. That's going to add up to some good numbers on the scorecard here. -- Brian Wacker

A sip of Maginnes

DAY HAVING HIS DAY (2:05 p.m.): Glen Day battled his way back to the PGA TOUR the hard way. For several years, he played out of the limited-access past champions category. At the end of 2008, Day found himself in an all too familiar position, back at q-school. By the end of the six-day marathon, though, he finished in a tie for seventh and had regained his full-time playing privileges on TOUR. So far, however, he had failed to take advantage of his new life. This week it would seem that the one-time winner has found something. He is currently 4 under on his round and moved to within four of the leaders at 9 under. With only one top-25 finish on the year, he's certainly looking at his best finish and a much-needed boost on the money list. -- John Maginnes

NEW MEANING TO MOVING DAY (1:45 p.m.): With everyone off by 9:30 a.m. local time today, just about the entire field has been able to take advantage of favorable scoring conditions -- the air is humid, the skies overcast and the greens beyond receptive. Right now, the scoring average for today is a ridiculously low 68.05. That's more than two full stroke's lower than last year's third-round scoring average, which was also the lowest day of scoring that week. The same thing will hold true this year. -- Brian Wacker

TOUGH TO DEFEND (1:30 p.m.): Defending champions have not always fared so well at this event -- the last player to repeat was Tom Watson in 1980. Here's a look at how some recent past winners are doing this week. -- Brian Wacker

SABO ON A STREAK (1:05 p.m.): Dustin Johnson isn't the only one on a birdie tear right now. After stringing together four straight pars to open his round, Rory Sabbatini, who had a share of the overnight lead here, has birdied four of his last five holes to make the turn in 31 and pull even with Johnson atop the leaderboard at 12 under.

It's been an up and down year for Sabbatini, but it certainly appears to be trending up of late. He's finally settled into his new TaylorMade equipment and his confidence is growing. Now the question is if he'll be able to catch or hold off Dustin Johnson. There are also nine players behind Sabbatini within four strokes. -- Brian Wacker

DRISCOLL DROPPING (12:55 p.m.): James Driscoll talked yesterday about how he's been riding some good momentum with his swing and the mental state of his game. No doubt that was true with him sitting in a tie for third at the start of today's round. Today, however, has been a different story for Driscoll, who is 2 over through nine holes and has fallen into a tie for 23rd.

After missing the green long on No. 3, Driscoll chipped up to 5 feet, but was unable to save par. On the par-3 fifth, Driscoll rinsed his tee shot, coming up well short on the 154-yard hole. He took a drop and chipped up to 14 feet, but again wasn't able to make the putt, resulting in a double bogey. He did bounce back with a birdie on the next hole, but Driscoll's chances may have washed away with that costly double bogey, especially with so many players able to go low today. -- Brian Wacker

TURNING 30 (12:36 p.m.): After a string of four straight birdies, Dustin Johnson just made his first bogey of the day after hitting it in the water off the tee on No. 9. Johnston took a drop, hit his next shot on the green and two-putted from just inside 33 feet. Though the bogey dropped him into a tie for the lead, he made the turn in 30 and is in great position. Remember, Johnson shot back-to-back rounds of 65-62 last week in San Antonio and earlier this year opened with a 65 at Pebble Beach, where he went on to record his second career PGA TOUR victory. -- Brian Wacker

SUPER SCORING (12:25 p.m.): How good are conditions for scoring today at TPC Four Seasons? Forget Dustin Johnson's birdie run -- of the 74 players who made the cut, just 13 players are over par on their rounds today. That's a pretty staggering number considering this was the seventh-hardest course on the PGA TOUR last season. Clearly, the early start today is having an impact on that and at this rate, the third round should be completed by early afternoon. -- Brian Wacker

DUSTIN THE COURSE (12:15 p.m.): Dustin Johnson has shown flashes of brilliance at times this season and this week appears to be another one of those times. Johnson, who began the day in a tie for third, has birdied his last four holes and six of his first eight today to get to 13 under and a one-stroke lead. That gives Johnson 10 birdies, one eagle and just one bogey in his last 26 holes.

One big reason Johnson's gotten off to such a fast start today: He's missed just one green in regulation has taken just 10 putts. And in case you were wondering, the course record at TPC Four Seasons is a 61. It'll take a lot more birdies to get there, but it's not out of the question. Follow Johnson's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker

Sip of Maginnes

TAKING ADVANTAGE (12:05 p.m.): Mother nature robbed us of some drama today. The threat of thunderstorms this afternoon forced the PGA TOUR rules officials to put everyone on the golf course this morning. Teeing off in threes off both sides got the leaders out early and they were able to take advantage of morning conditions. If this had been a normal Saturday, those players who made the cut on the number would have been out first and would have been able to take advantage. The leaders would have teed off late in the day with firmer greens and more wind. This would have been the recipe for huge moves to be made. However, it looks like those on top are going to be able to keep the chasers at bay today. Those who were hot for the first 36 holes are continuing on this Saturday morning and creating some distance from the rest of the field. -- John Maginnes

THE WRONG DIRECTION (11:40 a.m.): Unfortunately for some players, moving day on the PGA TOUR doesn't always refer to upward movement on the leaderboard. That was certainly the case for Mark Calcavecchia, who had the first tee time at 7:30 a.m.

Calc began the day with consecutive bogeys on the second and third holes, but made birdie at the seventh. Unfortunately, that was not a sign of things turning around. At the 323-yard, par-4 11th, he hit in the water -- twice -- then hit in the back greenside bunker on his way to a disastrous quadruple bogey. He followed that with another bogey at the 13th and the combination sent him plummeting to the bottom of the leaderboard.

With only a few holes left to try to salvage his round, Calc is at 6 over for the day and will likely be looking at another early tee time for Sunday's final round. -- Ceri Mobley

Below is a look at Calcavecchia's scorecard so far in Round 3:

CLOSE CALLS (11:15 a.m.): John Mallinger has never won an event during his four years on the PGA TOUR, but he's certainly had his chances and this week presents another opportunity for him.

Six times Mallinger has finished third, most recently at THE PLAYERS Championship two weeks ago. But this is only the second time in his career that he's led or shared the lead after 36 holes. In 2007, he led the Canadian Open after two rounds and eventually finished in a tie for seventh.

How will he fare this week? We'll find out today -- and quickly (he already has his first birdie through three holes; click here to follow with Shot Tracker). Mallinger has never held the 54-hole lead, but is coming off a round in which he made two eagles. He also leads the field on the par-5s, thanks of course in part to those two eagles. -- Brian Wacker

EARLY MOVERS (11 a.m.): Briny Baird and Dustin Johnson didn't waste any time taking advantage of the early tee times today. Both are 2 under in the early stages of their rounds and both now sit atop the leaderboard. Though, it seems almost certain we'll see several lead changes throughout the day since 13 players began the round within three of the lead.

Marc Leishman and Mike Weir have also moved up the leaderboard thanks to respective birdie runs. Leishman has six birdies sandwiched around a couple of bogeys through his first eight holes on the back, while Weir has three birdies through his first holes on the front. Neither player began the day in the top 25, but both are now inside the top 10. -- Brian Wacker

EARLY START (10:45 a.m.): With thunderstorms in the forecast for the Dallas area later today, the tee times were pushed up with players going off in groups of three off both tees. After a 5-hour delay in San Antonio last week -- something that couldn't have been averted -- that's certainly a good call.

It also means that overnight leaders Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger will be joined by Brian Davis, who began the day just one back of their 8-under lead. Though, if Sabbatini has another day of putting like he did yesterday, that lead might be bigger by the end of play today, whenever that comes.

With the fewest number of putts during the second round, Sabbatini matched his lowest effort of the year with 23 putts, which he also accomplished in the third round of the Northern Trust Open. He's also averaging a birdie roughly every three holes, is on a 52-stroke streak without a hole above par and has eight one-putts and two hole-outs during the streak.

Perhaps most important, however, is that the four previous times Sabbatini has led or shared the lead after 36 holes, he's gone on to win twice and has never finished lower than third. -- Brian Wacker

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   8:00 am ET No. 1 Jeff Maggert, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III Maggert is strong in Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation. He just needs a hot round with the flat stick. 9:00 am ET No. 1 D.A. Points, Jesper Parnevik, Glen Day After a quick lesson from Singh, Parnevik is starting to play like his dynamic old self. 9:10 am ET No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Robert Allenby, Ken Duke Johnson leads the field in Driving Distance. If he can putt a little better, he's got a great chance.

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