Round 3 notebook: Sony Open

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HONOLULU -- With 80 players making the 36-hole cut on Friday, a 54-hole cut was required Saturday to reduce the field to the low 70 and ties. Seventy-one players at even-par or better advanced to the final round.

• Ryan Palmer (65-66-68?199) and Robert Allenby (65-67-67?199) are tied for the third-round lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii at 11 under. The pair holds a three-stroke lead over Troy Matteson, Davis Love III, Steve Stricker and defending champion Zach Johnson. Five players, including a couple of 50-year-olds, Tom Lehman and Michael Allen, are tied for seventh at 7 under.

• Palmer had never previously held or shared a 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. However, he has had good success when close to the lead heading into the final round.

• Palmer is making his fifth career start at the Sony Open in Hawaii (T64-2004, T28-2005, MC-2006, MC-2007).

• This represents the fifth time Allenby has held the third-round lead/co-lead on TOUR, but it has been almost eight years since the last time he achieved this feat -- at the 2002 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

• Allenby has won twice when holding at least a share of the lead heading into the final round -- the 2000 Shell Houston Open and the 2001 Marconi Pennsylvania Classic -- the last time he was victorious on TOUR.

• Allenby, a four-time TOUR winner, is making his ninth start at the Sony Open, with top-10 finishes in 2003 (T4) and 2007 (T8).

• Davis Love III has made just two bogeys in 54 holes, joining Chad Collins and Boo Weekley with the fewest through three rounds. Both of Love's bogeys came during the second round, both at par-3 holes (Nos. 11 and 17).

• Defending champion Zach Johnson rebounded from a poor start, 2 over after four holes, to post 70 and stay in touch with the leaders, tied for third at 8 under.

• Nathan Green advanced 25 spots on the leaderboard, from T32 to T7, with a third-round 65.

• Green also shot 65 in the third round of the 2006 Sony Open and followed up with a final-round 64 for a fifth-place finish, his best showing in four previous starts at Waialae CC.

• Green was a first-time winner on TOUR last year with a victory at the RBC Canadian Open, making him a winner on four different Tours. He has also won on the European, Australasian and Canadian Tours.

• Round of the day belonged to Briny Baird (64), who was 7 under over the last 11 holes, including an eagle at the final hole. It represented Baird's lowest round at Waialae CC in 10 starts (37 rounds). The round propelled him from T59 to T12.

• Although yet to win on TOUR, Baird has regularly managed to get his season off to a good start at the Sony Open, missing just one cut in 10 starts (1999) and posting three top-10s (T5-2001, T7-2003, T5-2004).

• Baird finished T23 in the 2009 Sony Open with four rounds in the 60s. He also shot four rounds in the 60s in 2004 for his best showing at Waialae CC -- 68-66-66-67?267 (T5).

• Rory Sabbatini (67) posted one of six bogey-free rounds on Saturday and is T7 after 54 holes. The South African shot a 10-under 63 in the final round at last week's SBS Championship to finish second behind Geoff Ogilvy.

• An opening-round 73 had Charles Howell III tied for 102nd place. After posting back-to-back 66s in rounds two and three, Howell, who finished fourth at the Sony Open last year, has advanced to T16 through 54 holes. Howell also posted top-10s here in 2007 (T2), 2005 (T3) and 2002 (T4).

• All four players making their first-career start on TOUR made the cut this week: Blake Adams (69-67-71/T33), Troy Merritt (65-71-70/T23), Brian Stuard (66-73-70/T52) and Jerod Turner (71-69-72/MDF).

• Here is a look at the scores for the seven rookies in the field who made the 36-hole cut this week: Adams (69-67-71/T33), Graham DeLaet (69-67-68/T12), Martin Flores (66-74-69/T52), Merritt (65-71-70/T23), Alex Prugh (74-67-70/MDF), Stuard (66-73-70/T52) and Turner (71-69-72/MDF).

• Past champions of the Sony Open: Zach Johnson (T3), K.J. Choi (T44), Paul Goydos (T12), David Toms (T52), Vijay Singh (T52), Ernie Els (T23), Jerry Kelly (WD), Brad Faxon (MC), John Huston (MC) and Corey Pavin (T52).

• Aaron Goldberg (70) affected the cut-line on Friday while playing in the last group with a double bogey, double bogey, par finish. He had a more comfortable finish in the third round posting nine consecutive pars on the back nine but failed to make the 54-hole cut.

• Two former British Open champions teed off together early in the third round. Mark Calcavecchia, the Open champion in 1989, shot 69, while Ben Curtis, winner in 2003, posted 74.

• The par-4 13th hole played the toughest on Saturday, yielding a 4.262 average. The par-5 18th hole was the easiest at 4.387.