Farmers Insurance Open, Round 3

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Ryuji Imada finished a distant second to Tiger Woods in this event in 2008.

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Farmers Insurance Open

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the Farmers Insurance Open, and we'll be providing updates all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.)

Jan. 30, 2010

THREE DOWN, ONE TO GO (6:10 p.m.): The third round is over at Torrey Pines and though Ryuji Imada is in the lead, this one is far from over.

Thirteen players are within five shots of Imada, who is 13 under. Michael Sim, Lucas Glover, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Robert Allenby are all part of that group. -- Brian Wacker

ROUND THREE WINDING DOWN (5:45 p.m.): There wasn't exactly a lot of moving on moving day at Torrey Pines. There were some players who moved up -- most notably Ben Crane, Lucas Glover and Brandt Snedeker -- but Ryuji Imada is just 1 under today and still in the lead.

All that's added up to a jammed leaderboard, with 13 players within four shots of the lead as play winds down. Among that group is Phil Mickelson, who is just three shots back. Lucas Glover, Ernie Els and Robert Allenby are in contention, too. Stay tuned. -- Brian Wacker

MICKELSON IN WITH 70 (5:15 p.m.): Phil Mickelson was able to save par after finding the water on the 18th hole, but his round of 2-under 70 could have been another shot or two lower. Still, Mickelson is just three shots back and is at 9 under and in position to make a run on Sunday. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Mickelson's scorecard from today. Click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker.

SPLASH LANDING (5 p.m.): Phil Mickelson just went for the green in two on the par-5 18th ... and came up short, finding the water. Mickelson had about 230 yards from the rough and hit 3-wood. He should still be able to make par, but not making eagle or birdie there is going to sting. -- Brian Wacker

GLOVER GOING LOW (4:50 p.m.): The best round on the course today is a 4-under 68 -- shot by Brandt Snedeker, who for the moment is the clubhouse leader. Lucas Glover, though, just poured in is third birdie in the last four holes and his fifth of the day. It looks like the reigning U.S. Open champ is about to break out of that mini-slump he's been in during the early season.

Meanwhile, overnight co-leader D.A. Points just pitched himself into some trouble with a tricky pitch that jumped on him on No. 14. The shot bounded off the back of the green and down into the shrubbery. -- Brian Wacker

Mickelson

MICKELSON UPDATE (4:30 p.m.): Little by little, Phil Mickelson is climbing the leaderboard. After a birdie on the par-4 15th, Mickelson is now just three off the lead. He just parred the par-3 16th, but still has a par-5 (No. 18) left. -- Brian Wacker

NO ONE-YEAR WONDER (4:08 p.m.): Marc Leishman, who was voted Rookie of the Year last season after eight top-25s, including a runner-up at the BMW Championship, doesn't appear to be suffering from any sort of sophomore slump. The Aussie is 4 under today after a birdie on the par-5 13th. That gets him to 10 under and just three shots back as we get deep into the third round. -- Brian Wacker

MICKELSON UPDATE (3:48 p.m.): Phil Mickelson is now just three shots off the lead after making an eagle on the par-5 13th. That erases a bogey just one hole earlier and gets Mickelson to 8 under, giving him some much-needed momentum with five holes left in his round. -- Brian Wacker

DALY, GROOVES NEWS (3:30 p.m.): Now that John Daly and his agent have confirmed that Daly is in fact not retiring (click here for more), the other big story to break during yesterday's second round was just addressed by the PGA TOUR with a statement about the use of pre-1990 Ping Eye 2 irons.

While the Daly story fades away, the story about grooves and the Ping Eye 2 irons isn't and it will be addressed further on Tuesday during a Players Advisory Council meeting. -- Brian Wacker

MICKELSON UPDATE (3:10 p.m.): Apparently the best way to move up at Torrey Pines is to not make mistakes. Just how difficult is the south Course playing today? Well, Phil Mickelson is even par through 11 holes, stuck on 7 under for the week, yet he has moved up two spots on the leaderboard and is just four shots back. Only four players in the top 10 are under par on their rounds right now. And the lowest number among that group is 2 under. The lowest number in the entire field is just 3 under. -- Brian Wacker

TWEET OF THE DAY (2:54 p.m.): "Practicing at Torrey ... Feels weird to practice and know that tournament play is going on." -- @BillyHo_Golf

@BillyHo_Golf would be PGA TOUR rookie Billy Horschel. The former University of Florida standout missed the cut with rounds of 72 and 71. That marks three straight missed cuts to open the season for Horschel. And it's just as strange, by the way, to see a pro hanging around for the weekend after missing the cut.

Fellow rookie Rickie Fowler was on a similar path, until he shot rounds of 67-70. Fowler is 1 under today and in a tie for fifth just three shots back. Get used to seeing his name on leaderboards this year. -- Brian Wacker

TIED AT THE TOP (2:42 p.m.): After losing the lead following a bogey on the first hole, D.A. Points just got one back, making birdie on the par-5 sixth. That got him to even par for the day and back into a share of the lead with Ryuji Imada, who made a bogey a couple of holes ago to drop back to 11 under for the week. Imada, by the way, may be about to fall out of the lead after an errant tee shot on No. 7. -- Brian Wacker

BIG EASY MAKING BIG MOVE (2:20 p.m.): Ernie Els said that he plans to cut back on his globetrotting this year and focus more on the PGA TOUR. So far, it appears to be paying some dividends. The Big Easy, who tied for 12th at the Sony Open in Hawaii two weeks ago, is making a run at the lead today. Els just made the turn in 4 under and is now within two of the lead.

This is just Els' second time playing in the event. In 2006, he tied for sixth after opening with a 65. So far, he's been spot on with his iron play, sticking a couple of iron shots close to set up some short birdies. Click here to follow Els live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

MORE MICKELSON MAGIC? (2 p.m.): Phil Mickelson is just 1 under through his first six holes today, but the three-time Farmers Insurance Open champ has come back on the weekend at Torrey Pines before. In 1993, Mickelson was six shots off the lead -- he's four back right now -- and closed with rounds of 69 and 65 to win.

The flip side, of course, is that Mickelson's other two wins at Torrey Pines came while he had a share of the 36-hole lead. Click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

Phil Mickelson 3 Wins at Farmers Insurance Open

Year	Round 1	Round 2	Shots Off Lead	Thru 36 holes	Finishing position
2001	68	64	0	T1	Won
2000	66	67	0	T1	Won
1993	75	69	6	T6	Won
2010	70	67	4	T10	???

BOGEY-FREE (1:45 p.m.): Ryuji Imada remains bogey-free so far and has since stretched his lead to 2 after he made an early birdie and overnight co-leader D.A. Points made an early bogey.

While this is the first time that Imada has opened with two bogey-free rounds (and then some), it's particularly impressive when you consider the field averaged just shy of 5 1/2 bogeys per player through 36 holes. -- Brian Wacker

Ryuji Imada - This week vs. The Field

Stat	This Week	Field Average
Greens in Regulation	89 percent (T2)	71 percent
Scrambling Percentage	100 percent (T1)	56 percent
Putts/Round	28.5 (T12)	30.33
Bogeys/Round	0 (1)	2.73

POINTS GIVES UP THE LEAD (1:33 p.m.): D.A. Points slept on a share of the lead Friday night, but he gave it up on the first hole Saturday with a bogey. -- Ryan Smithson

SIM'S STRONG COMEBACK (1:05 p.m.): What a difference a day makes. Michael Sim looked like he was headed for a missed cut after a 1-over 73 in the first round. Then he shot a near-course record 10-under 62 on the North Course Friday. Not only did that earn him a spot on the weekend, it moved him into contention entering today's round. Now we'll get to see what he can do on the weekend. Sim is coming off a tie for 63rd at last week's Bob Hope Classic. -- Brian Wacker

Michael Sim - Round Comparison

Stat	Round 1	Round 2
Fairways	8	6
Greens	10	16
Putts	29	25
Eagles	0	1
Birdies	5	9
Bogeys or worse	5	1

ANOTHER WEEK IN THE HUNT FOR ALLENBY (12:50 p.m.): It is said that Aussies play so well in January on the PGA TOUR because its the middle of their golfing season, and it is easy to believe.

Robert Allenby is off to one of the best starts in his TOUR career, and he enters the third round only three shots off the lead. It can be a little tricky putting on the bumpy poa annua greens at Torrey Pines, but so far, Allenby has putted well enough to avoid making the bogeys that kill your round.

This is Allenby's first start since his solo second at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He has broken 70 in all six rounds on TOUR this year. -- Ryan Smithson

POINTS ON POINT (12:30 p.m.): A big reason D.A. Points heads into today's second round with a share of the lead is because he's driven the ball extremely well. Points has hit a field-best 82 percent of his fairways so far (compared to just 54 percent for the rest of the field). Points hasn't exactly had much success in this event in the past, either. In his previous three starts at the Farmers Insurance Open, he was a combined 14 over in 10 total rounds. -- Brian Wacker

D.A. Points - Career Comparison at the Farmers Insurance Open

Stat	First 10 Rounds	This Week
Driving Accuracy	54 percent	82 percent (1st)
Greens in Regulation	68 percent	78 percent (T18)
Total Eagles	2	1
Birdie Average	2.6	5
Stroke Average	73.40	66.50 (T1)
Total Score to Par	14 over	11 under (T1)

SPLIT TEES FOR THE THIRD ROUND (12:15 P.M.): The field is paired in threesomes off split tees for the third round, with the leaders teeing off shortly before 1 p.m. ET.

The field will play the South Course for the final two rounds, and the course is expected to dry out over the weekend, with sunny, cool weather expected at Torrey Pines. -- Ryan Smithson

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
1 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10, North		Phil Mickelson, Ryan Palmer, Marc Turnesa Mickelson, tied for 40th, heads to the easier course after an opening-round 2-under 70 on the South.
Noon ET, Hole No. 10, South		Scott Piercy, John Merrick, Jay Williamson Leader Piercy looked great on the North Course with his opening 64, but can he keep it up on the South?
12:50 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10, North		Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Richard S. Johnson Allenby was the only player on the South Course in the top-15 Thursday. He could easily take the lead on the North.