Weather: Sunny with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Winds SW 10-15 mph.
Jim Furyk birdied the final hole to move to 11-under-par to break through and sit alone atop a jam-packed leaderboard that saw 10 players hold or share the lead down the stretch of the third round of the Verizon Heritage.
Furyk is making his 12th appearance at the Verizon Heritage, with nine made cuts and top-15 finishes in five of his last seven starts (T15-2002, T10-2003, T2-2005, 2-2006, 4-2008) prior to 2010.
Furyk, a 14-time winner on the PGA TOUR, is coming off a victory at the Transitions Championship earlier this year and is in search of his first multi-win season since 2006.
This is the 16th time that Furyk has held or shared the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. Furyk is 6-for-14 converting third-round leads into victories. Furyk was tied for the 54-hole lead at the Verizon Heritage in 2006 when he shot a final-round 71 to finish second to Aaron Baddeley.
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Furyk leads the field this week with 24.7 putts per round. In Furyk's career, there have only been two tournaments where he has totaled less than 100 putts over the course of the tournament and averaged 24.5 putts or less per round. Furyk finished the 1999 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic with 96 putts (24 putts per round average) where he finished second and the 2000 Honda Classic with 98 putts (24.5 average) where he finished T4.

England's Brian Davis shot a 66 and is alone in second at 10-under-par. The 66 by Davis is his best career single-round score at Harbour Town Golf Links in his 17th round and fifth start at this event.
Davis matches his career-best standing thru 54 holes. He was also second following the third round at the Reno-Tahoe Open where he finished T2. Davis has finished a career-best second at three events, most recently at the 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship where he finished solo second by two strokes to Rory Sabbatini.
Along with Davis, Briny Baird and Ricky Barnes are also looking for their first PGA TOUR win. Baird and Barnes are in a group of seven players that are two strokes off the lead. Joining Barnes and Baird at 9-under-par are Stephen Ames (65), Luke Donald (67), Woody Austin (67), Heath Slocum (67) and two-time Verizon Heritage winner Boo Weekley (68).
Slocum, who had an opportunity to finish the second round tied for the lead before recording a double bogey on the 18th hole, climbed back into contention again on Saturday and was in the lead at 11-under-par only to double bogey the final hole for the second straight day. Slocum finished the day at 9-under-par and is one shot off the lead.
Slocum is playing this Verizon Heritage for the ninth consecutive year. His only top-10 finish at the Verizon Heritage came the first time he played at Harbour Town Golf Links when he finished solo second to Justin Leonard by one shot.
Slocum's 67 included a stretch of five holes on the back nine without a par. Slocum alternated bogeys and birdies on holes 12-15 and also birdied the 16th hole.
Winner of the 2007 and 2008 Verizon Heritage Classics, Boo Weekley finds himself in contention again after three consecutive rounds of 3-under-par 68. Weekley, at 9-under-par for the tournament, is two off the lead.
Weekley leads the field in greens in regulation having hit 41 of 54 greens this week (75.9%).
Ricky Barnes is looking to follow up a strong week at The Masters where he finished T10 with his first career PGA TOUR victory. Barnes, playing in the Verizon Heritage for the first time in his career, birdied the 18th hole to shoot 5-under-par 66 and is at 9-under-par for the tournament.
Barnes is looking to become the sixth player to win this event in their first-ever appearance: Stewart Cink (2000), Jose Coceres (2001), Bob Goalby (1970), Arnold Palmer (1969) and Boo Weekley (2007).
Barnes has now made the cut in 10 of his first 11 events this year on the PGA TOUR. In 2009, the University of Arizona Wildcat didn't make his 10th cut until the Frys.com Open in October and he only made 11 cuts on the season.
Baird shot a 5-under-par 66 and finished the second round at 9-under-par, two shots off the lead. Baird recorded one of his four career runner-up finishes at last year's Verizon Heritage. Baird is playing in his 312th PGA TOUR event and is looking for his first career victory.
Five-time Verizon Heritage champion Davis Love III, who is playing in the event for the 25th time in his career, recorded his third career hole-in-one. Love used a 4-iron on the par-3 4th hole from 202 yards. It is the second ace of the week on the 4th hole as Jerry Kelly recorded a hole-in-one during the first round.
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On Friday, the 36-hole cut came at even-par 142, with 82 players advancing to the weekend. A 54-hole took place on Saturday to again reduce the field to the low 70 and ties for the final round. A total of 72 players advanced to Sunday's final round.
Scoring Averages at the par-71 Harbour Town Golf Links:
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Bogey-free rounds
R1 -- Trevor Immelman, Bryce Molder, Nick O'Hern and Stuart Appleby
R2 -- Bryce Molder, Briny Baird, Camilo Villegas, Spencer Levin, Stephen Ames, Paul Casey, Blake Adams
R3 -- Jim Furyk, Brian Davis, Stephen Ames, Briny Baird, Luke Donald, Boo Weekley, Tom Gillis, Omar Uresti, Chris Tidland,