Round 3 Notebook: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

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Despite a double bogey on the par-4 fifth hole, Bryce Molder carded a 3-under 67 on Saturday to share the lead with Brian Davis (65) at 16-under 194 with just 18 holes to play in the 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Zach Johnson (64) sits one shot back.

Davis or Molder would become the eighth player to post their first PGA TOUR win at the Colonial, and the first since Sergio Garcia in 2001.

Brian Davis
England's Brian Davis carded a 5-under 65 on Saturday and extended his bogey-free streak to 45 holes. His last bogey came on No. 9 during the first round.

Davis, at 16-under 194, shatters his previous-best 54-hole total on TOUR (199), posted at the 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Davis has one top-10 finish this season, a runner-up at the Verizon Heritage that came in memorable fashion. After sinking an 18-foot-putt to force a playoff with Jim Furyk, Davis called a penalty on himself on the first playoff hole for a two-stroke penalty, paving the way for Furyk's victory.

As a result of the finish in Hilton Head, Davis had a large group of students from Sam Houston High School in Arlington, TX among his gallery on Saturday. Prior to the start of the third round, Davis visited with the students and their English teacher Elizabeth Hodges, who presented the PGA TOUR standout with self-written journals commending him on his actions at the Verizon Heritage.

Tied for first this week with 25.3 putts per round, Davis is making his third start at Colonial (T59/2008, T34/2009).

Davis would be the first-ever player from England to win in the 63-year history of the event.

Bryce Molder
Molder established a career-best mark with nine consecutive one-putts on Nos. 2-10 on Saturday.

Molder's only other 54-hole lead came earlier this year at the Shell Houston Open. He went on to post a final-round 2-over 74 to finish T8.

Molder, a 31-year-old from Arkansas, has four top-10 finishes in 14 previous starts on TOUR this season. He posted his best finish at the Puerto Rico Open (T7) and is currently No. 57 on the FedExCup points list.

Molder is looking to become the sixth player to win at Colonial in his first appearance at the event: Ben Hogan (1946), Clayton Heafner (1948), Dave Stockton (1967), Keith Clearwater (1987) and Sergio Garcia (2001).

Molder's 54-hole total of 194 is his best on TOUR, topping the 197 he carded at the 2009 St. Jude Classic.

Bryce Molder (1998-2001) is one of just four players who earned First Team All-American status all four years of college, joining fellow Yellow Jacket David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Gary Hallberg.

Zach Johnson
Johnson's 195 total equals his best 54-hole score on TOUR (2009 Valero Texas Open).

Johnson is currently ranked first in Greens in Regulation and second in Fairways Hit.

Johnson, who has never missed a cut at Colonial in five starts, enters Sunday one shot back.

Ben Crane
The 34-year-old resident of Westlake, Texas eagled the par-4 17th hole with a pitching wedge from 143 yards en route to a 6-under 64. It is the third eagle of the week for Crane. On Thursday, he eagled the par-5 first hole en route to a 2-under 68. On Friday, he aced the par-3 13th hole to card a 6-under 64.

In five previous starts at Colonial, Crane has four made cuts and three top-20s: T17/2005, T4/2006 and 5th/2008.

Crane notched his third PGA TOUR win earlier this year at the Farmers Insurance Open. He now has made the cut in 11 of 13 starts this season and sits No. 8 in the FedExCup standings.

Jason Bohn
Bohn is making his fifth start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational (T56-2006, T18-2007, T52-2008, T22-2009).

Bohn, No. 18 in the FedExCup standings, is coming off a two-week break since finishing T64 at THE PLAYERS Championship. He notched his second-career win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, five years after winning the 2005 B.C. Open.

Jason Bohn has had little trouble navigating through the "horseshoe" at Colonial Country Club. Holes 3-5 are some of the toughest holes on the course, ranking 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Bohn has played the holes in 2-under-par with two birdies and a par on the third, a birdie and two pars on the fourth and a bogey and two pars on No. 5.

Bo Van Pelt
Van Pelt (65/T10) will enter Sunday's final round seeking his fourth top-5 finish in his last five starts. Here's a look at his last four events: Verizon Heritage (T3), Quail Hollow Championship (5), THE PLAYERS Championship (T4) and the Valero Texas Open (T28). He is currently No. 21 in the FedExCup standings.

Van Pelt has never missed a cut at Colonial, with a T5 in his first appearance in 2004 his best showing.

Corey Pavin
Playing for the 27th time at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, United States Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin shot a third-round 3-under 67 to move to 12-under (T10) for the tournament. Pavin, who won this event in 1985 and 1996, has played the event every year dating back to his first Crowne Plaza Invitational in 1984. He is looking for his first top-10 finish here at Colonial Country Club since a T8 in 2001.

At 50 years, 6 months and 14 days on Sunday, Pavin would be the sixth-oldest winner in PGA TOUR history if he were to win this week and the oldest since Fred Funk won the 2007 Mayakoba Classic at Riviera Maya. Pavin would be the oldest winner in the history of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Winners over 50 on the PGA TOUR
52 years, 10 months, 8 days, Sam Snead, 1965 Greater Greensboro Open
51 years, 7 months, 10 days, Art Wall, 1975 Greater Milwaukee Open
51 years, 3 months, 7 days, Jim Barnes, 1937 Long Island Open
51 years, 1 month, 5 days, John Barnum, 1962 Cajun Classic
50 years, 8 months, 11 days, Fred Funk, 2007 Mayakoba Classic at Riviera Maya
50 years, 1 month, 18 days, Craig Stadler, 2003 B.C. Open

John Daly
Daly carded a 5-over 75 on Saturday to fall to T73. He had played the first 36 holes this week without a bogey. The only other time he has started a tournament with two bogey-free rounds was at the 1999 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open and the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.

Vijay Singh
Singh posted a 3-under 67 on Saturday to move to T38. He is playing on Sunday for the first time since the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in mid-March. Entering the week, Singh had missed the cut in four of five starts for the first time in his 438-event TOUR career (calendar season). He had failed to play the final two rounds in his last six starts, the longest stretch of his career (Singh is making his eighth-career start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He has finished inside the top 12 in four of his last five starts here (T11-1999, T41-2000, T11-2001, T12-2002, T6-2009).

Miscellaneous Stats
Paul Goydos (68/T28) had a hole-in-one on No. 13 with a 5-iron from 195 yards.

There were six eagles on the par-4 holes on Saturday, the most at Colonial since 1983. Three were posted at the par-4 second hole and one each at Nos. 6, 17 and 18. In all, there were 11 eagles during the third round.

The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 11 of 21 stroke-play events on TOUR this year, most recently Jason Day at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Seven of the last eight winners at Colonial have either held the 54-hole lead or been tied for the 54-hole lead. Dating to 2001, the only come-from-behind winners are Sergio Garcia (2001) and Steve Stricker (2009).

In the 63-year history of the Colonial, the 54-hole leader/co-leader has gone on to claim victory 34 times.

Past Colonial winners: Stricker (2009/T28), Phil Mickelson (2000, 2008/MC), Rory Sabbatini (2007/T69), Tim Herron (2006/MC), Kenny Perry (2003, 2005/T13), Steve Flesch (2004/MC) and Corey Pavin (1985, 1996/T10).

Bogey-free rounds:
Rd. 1: J. Overton (63), B. Molder (65), C. Pettersson (65), Z. Johnson (65), J. Daly (66), K. Blanks (65), M. Bradley (67), C. Beckman (67), T. Petrovic (68).

Rd. 2: K. Blanks (64), B. Davis (65), B. Weekley (63), J. Mallinger (66), K. Perry (64), R. Barnes (T11), P. Goydos (65), B. de Jonge (T27), C. Collins (66), L. Glover (65), B. Quigley (66).

Rd. 3: Brian Davis (65/T1), Zach Johnson (64/3), Lee Janzen (63/T13), Matt Jones (64/T13), Pat Perez (63/T18), Kevin Na (65/T18), Martin Laird (66/T28), Michael Sim (67/T33).

Colonial Country Club shows its teeth over the stretch of holes from Nos. 3-5, known as the "Horrible Horseshoe." Cumulatively, they have played as the third (No. 3), second (No. 4) and toughest (No. 5) holes.