HP Byron Nelson Champ.: Third-round notebook

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IRVING, Texas -- Due to expected inclement weather on Saturday, the third round began at 8:30 a.m. ET off Nos. 1 and 10 tees in groups of three. The last group began at 10:30 a.m. ET.

• Four-time PGA TOUR champion Rory Sabbatini followed up a second round 6-under 64 with a 5-under 65 in round three.

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Fred Couples, who won this event in 1987, is in contention again in 2009.

How the past winners left in the field have fared:

Year won Player This week Current position 2005 Ted Purdy 74-65-66--205 T49 2003 Vijay Singh 70-67-69--137 T40 2000 Jesper Parnevik 67-68-69--206 T23 1987 Fred Couples 69-66-67--202 T11

• If you look at his accuracy-related numbers, it wouldn't seem like Sabbatini should be tied for the lead through three rounds. In round three, he hit just seven of 14 fairways. In the first and second rounds, he hit just 11 of 18 greens in regulation. The key has been his putting. Through 54 holes, he has needed just 77 putts and is currently tied for first in that category.

• Sabbatini, who won the 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, has previously held at least a share of the 54-hole lead eight times. He most recently held a 54-hole lead at last year's Valero Texas Open before ultimately finishing tied for eighth.

• Sabbatini is competing in his 11th HP Byron Nelson Championship dating back to 1999. His previous best finish here was a tie for third in 2007.

• Matching Sabbatini in the third round was John Mallinger. Like Sabbatini, Mallinger began the day tied for the 8-under lead and finished the day tied with Sabbatini at the top at 13-under.

• Mallinger is playing in just his third HP Byron Nelson Championship. He missed the cut in 2007 and finished T31 in 2008.

• Mallinger is playing in his 15th PGA TOUR event of the season this week, having missed just four cuts so far this year. The recognition factor elevated greatly for Mallinger two weeks ago when three sub-par rounds at THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass earned him T3 honors.

• The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 15 of 20 events (75 percent) on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Zach Johnson at last week's Valero Texas Open. Last year, the third-round leader/co-leader only won 22 of 46 events (48 percent).

• The PGA TOUR has had just four playoffs so far this season, but two of them have occured in Texas Swing events. Paul Casey claimed the Shell Houston Open over J.B. Holmes with a bogey on the first playoff hole, while Zach Johnson won the Valero Texas Open over James Driscoll with a birdie on the first extra hole.

• The hottest start of the day in round three belonged to PGA TOUR sophomore Dustin Johnson. Johnson, who began the day one shot off the lead at 7 under, birdied five of his first seven holes to get to 11 under.

• Johnson will leave Texas after the 2009 swing with good memories. One week after firing a career-low 8-under 62 in the third round of the Valero Texas Open, he finds himself tied for third after a third round 4-under 66.

• Johnson drove his ball into the water on the left side of the 10th fairway. As opposed to taking a drop at the point of entry, he was taken by cart to an equi-distant location on the other side of the lateral hazard in the 11th fairway. From that point, he managed to nestle his third shot to three feet and easily save par.

• Marc Leishman, who began the day at 3 under, played his first eight holes without posting a par in round three. Beginning on the back nine Leishman went birdie-birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-birdie. It wasn't until the 18th hole (his ninth) that he leveled out with a par four. Leishman made the turn at 6 under.

• Leishman is playing his 13th event as a PGA TOUR rookie. The Australian has now played 38 rounds, with Saturday's third round 7-under 63 marking the 11th time he has shot in the 60s. It was also the lowest round of his PGA TOUR career. Leishman ranks T73 in third-round scoring this year with 69.83. He has shot over par just once (1-over 71/Round 3/The Honda Classic) in the third round.

• Leishman has already tasted success in Texas. Leishman won the Nationwide Tour's WNB Golf Classic in Midland, Texas last year. His 11-stroke victory tied the Nationwide Tour's largest-winning-margin record set by Chris Smith at the 1997 Omaha Classic. Last week he finished T5 at the Valero Texas Open, shooting four sub-70 rounds.

• Through the first three rounds this week, Leishman has played the front nine without a bogey.

• After a second-round 7-under 63, Texas native Justin Leonard remained in red figures in round three with a 4-under 66 to get to 6 under for the tournament. Leonard rallied in round two with that 63 after posting a first-round 5-over 75. The 12-shot swing was the best improvement since Arron Oberholser bettered an opening-round 4-over 74 with a 10-under 60 in the second round in 2006 for a difference of 14 strokes.

• Nicholas Thompson made the most of having a job for the weekend. Thompson, who made the cut on the number (1-under 139), fired a 6-under 64 in round three and currently resides T17.

• Bogey-free rounds were posted by John Mallinger (65), Jeff Maggert (65), George McNeill (66), Nicholas Thompson (64), John Senden (65) and Kris Blanks (66).

• Scoring Averages at the par-70 TPC Four Seasons Resort: