Transitions Championship: Third-round notebook
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff
PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Fifty-year-old Tom Lehman birdied holes 12-15 in Saturday's third round of the Transitions Championship en route to a 3-under 68 to take a one-shot lead into Sunday's final round over Retief Goosen. Should he hang on for the win, his sixth on the PGA TOUR, it would be his first since the 2000 Phoenix Open, a span of nine years, one month and 23 days. Between then and now, he has amassed 32 top-10s in 184 starts.
• The last time a player over the age of 50 held a lead at day's end takes us back to Greg Norman at the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale. Norman held a two-shot lead after the first round.
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• Lehman is coming off a discouraging 2008 season, when he finished 142nd on the money list, his lowest rank since 1991. Heading into this week, he has made five starts, in which he missed the cut in the first four. He finished tied for 49th at the recent Mayakoba Golf Classic.
• Playing on a Minor Medical Exemption because of tendinitis in his left elbow, he has six events to earn $176,101, which would combine with his 2008 earnings to equal last year's No. 125 earnings, to upgrade his status to Major Medical Exemption for the remainder of the 2009 season. So far this year, he has made just $8,658 in five starts.
• Lehman has previously held a share of the 54-hole lead 14 times, three of which he won. They were the 1994 Memorial Tournament, the 1996 British Open and the 1996 TOUR Championship
• His most most recent 54-hole lead (which he shared) was at the 2005 Buick Invitational. He ended up finishing tied for second behind Tiger Woods.
• The story of Lehman this week has been his sporadic play on the par 3s. In Round 1, he played the five holes in even-par. In Round 2, he played them in 1 under, and in Round 3, he fought his way through in 1 over, which included a double bogey on the par-3 fourth hole.
• Odds certainly favor the 54-hole Transitions Championship leader hanging on for the win. Of the previous eight events, six 54-hole leaders have gone on to win. In 2000, John Huston made up a four-shot deficit to claim victory, and last year, Sean O'Hair came from three behind Stewart Cink's lead for the win.
• So far this year on the PGA TOUR, 10 off 11 54-hole leaders have gone on to win. (NOTE: Pat Perez was the 54-hole leader of the 50th Bob Hope Classic, a five-round event. In addition, winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Dustin Johnson, won as the 54-hole leader when rain caused the cancellation of the final round.). Buick Invitational winner Nick Watney was the only player to win without holding the 54-hole lead.
• At some point in the third round, the following players were atop the leaderboard: Lehman, Watney, Steve Stricker, Trevor Immelman, Retief Goosen, Troy Matteson, Rich Beem and Jonathan Byrd.
• At day's end, the top three names on the leaderboard each own at least major championship title.
• South African Goosen fired a 2-under 69 and will start Sunday's final round one stroke behind Lehman. Should he overtake Lehman and claim his seventh win, it would be his first win since the 2005 INTERNATIONAL, a span of three years, seven months and 15 days. Since that last win, Goosen has amassed 12 top-10s in 62 starts.
• Goosen's last top-10 finish came earlier this year with third-place honors at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Through 54 holes, he Goosen has avoided a single three-putt and is a perfect 35-for-35 at putts from five feet and in.
• On Saturday, 36-hole leaders Watney and Stricker shot 3-over 74 and 2-over 73, respectively.
• Including this week's second round, Watney is seven-for-seven at posting a sub-par score in his second round. His third rounds, however, have given him the most trouble of any round. Now, of his seven third rounds, he has posted three sub-par rounds, one round of even par and three rounds over par.
• Stricker's scoring average for the third and fourth rounds headed into this week was exactly the same: 66.75. Before Saturday, he had yet to post anything but a sub-par score in either round of the five in which he had contested.
• Seven players have played in all nine Transitions Championships, including John Huston, who represents Innisbrook Resort and won the first event here in 2000. Billy Andrade, Lee Janzen and Shaun Micheel all missed the cut, while Huston and Tim Herron are tied for 22nd, Billy Mayfair is tied for 47th and Brian Gay is tied for 68th.
• The only two remaining players who could overtake Geoff Ogilvy's grip on the FedExCup's top spot with a win this week are Watney and Kenny Perry. Zach Johnson would've been the third, but he failed to make the cut. Even with a solo second place finish, Watney would take control of the No. 1 slot.
• Japan's Ryo Ishikawa struggled on the front nine in Round 3, but rebounded nicely on the inward nine. He followed a 6-over 42 on the front with a 2-under 33 on the back for a third-round, 4-over 75.
• K.J. Choi, Rod Pampling and Joe Durant hold the record for most top-10 finishes in the Transitions Championship, each with three. Only Durant can separate himself from the others this week as Choi and Pampling each missed the cut. Durant began the day four shots off the lead, and headed into Sunday's final round is four strokes back holding a share of seventh place.
• Locals Huston and Woody Austin both enjoyed good days in Round 3 with a pair of 2-under 69s.
• The Cooperhead Course averaged 72.324 strokes per player on Saturday. The front nine averaged 36.811, while the back nine averaged 35.514.
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