Notebook, Round 3: The Greenbrier Classic

text size
Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size
Email This Story Print This Story RSS
Jul. 31, 2010

Weather: Mostly cloudy. Winds SSW 4-8 mph. High of 73.

With more than 78 players making the 36-hole cut, a 54-hole cut was made on Saturday, reducing the field to 77 players for the final round.

Jeff Overton
• Jeff Overton recorded a 4-under 66 on Saturday to move to 18-under 192 and a three-stroke lead over D.A. Points heading into the final round of the 2010 Greenbrier Classic.

• Overton has now held the lead heading into the final round of a PGA TOUR event for the second time. He held a three-stroke lead going into the final round of the 2007 Wyndham Championship, but a final-round 2-under 70 was no match to Brandt Snedeker's 9-under 63 that day to win by two.

• Overton, currently No. 12 in the FedExCup standings, is seeking to jump into the top 10 for the first time in his career. A win this week would propel him to No. 2 in the standings.

• Overton entered the Greenbrier Classic as perhaps the TOUR's hottest golfer, finishing inside the top 12 in six out of his last nine starts. During that stretch he has two runner-up finishes (Zurich Classic of New Orleans, HP Byron Nelson Championship) and two third-place finishes (Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, AT&T National).

D.A. Points
• D.A. Points posted a career-best 9-under 61 to move to 15-under 195, three strokes behind Jeff Overton.

• Points flirted with becoming the fifth player to card a 59 in a PGA TOUR event, standing at 10-under through 16 holes. But a three-putt bogey on the par-5 17th hole derailed his hopes of joining Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval and Paul Goydos.

• Points had 10 birdies on Saturday. Here's a look at his successful birdies:

Hole Par Putt length
No. 1 4 3 feet, 4 inches
No. 4 4 3 feet, 7 inches
No. 5 4 10 feet, 8 inches
No. 6 4 19 feet, 1 inch
No. 7 4 14 feet, 10 inches
No. 9 4 18 feet, 2 inches
No. 10 4 4 feet, 8 inches
No. 12 5 10 inches (two-putt from 38 feet, 3 inches)
No. 13 4 26 feet, 4 inches
No. 16 4 10 feet, 10 inches

• Points' best rounds on the PGA TOUR:

Score Tournament Round Finish
9-under 61 2010 Greenbrier Classic 3rd TBD
9-under 63 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open 2nd T27
8-under 64 2005 B.C. Open 3rd T13
8-under 64 2006 Frys.com Open 2nd T31
6-under 64 2009 AT&T National 1st T31

• Points, a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour (including the 2004 Pete Dye Classic in Bridgeport, W.Va.), carded a 6-under 28 on the front nine at the Old White Course on Saturday. It equals the lowest nine-hole score of the season:.

• The PGA TOUR record for low nine-hole score is 26, set by Corey Pavin during the first round of the 2006 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee (front nine).

• Points is making his 21st start of the season, with 11 made cuts and top-10 finishes at the HP Byron Nelson Championship (T7) and the Farmers Insurance Open (T9).

J.B. Holmes
• After two consecutive 1-under 69s, J.B. Holmes carded a career-best 10-under 60 on Saturday to move to 12-under 198. His previous best round 64, set during the second round of the 2006 FBR Open and the third rounds of the 2009 Northern Trust Open and 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii.

• Holmes' round included a bogey on the par-3 third hole, a missed birdie putt from 3 feet, 10 inches on No. 11 and a missed eagle putt on the par-5 17th hole from 9 feet, 11 inches.

• Holmes is currently No. 19 in the FedExCup standings, with 17 made cuts in 18 starts. He has three-top 10 finishes on the year, a T2 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, T3 at the Northern Trust Open and fifth-place finish at the AT&T National.

• Holmes' 60 is the fourth score of 60 or better on the PGA TOUR in the last four weeks:

Going Low on the PGA TOUR
Score Player Round Tournament
59 Paul Goydos 1st John Deere Classic
60 Steve Strickern 1st John Deere Classic
60 Carl Pettersson 3rd RBC Canadian Open
60 J.B. Holmes 3rd The Greenbrier Classic
Since the first 59 on TOUR in 1977
Last 5 Events* Previous 1,488 Events
Total Rounds 1,708* 612,335
59's 1 3
60's 3 14
*Including this week through the third round

Derek Lamely and Matt Kuchar
• Derek Lamely and Matt Kuchar have followed the same path this week, carding identical rounds of 69-69-63 to sit at 9-under 201, but each have followed different paths to get to this point.

• Lamely has struggled since winning the Puerto Rico Open in March. In his last 11 events, a T11 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational represents his only top-25 finish. He is currently No. 79 in the FedExCup standings. His 63 on Saturday equals the career-best 63 he carded en route to victory in Puerto Rico.

• Kuchar, No. 7 in the standings, is still seeking his first win of the year, but entered The Greenbrier Classic on a hot streak, with four top-10 finishes in his last five starts. His 63 on Saturday equals his career-best round on TOUR, but is the first time he has recorded the score in a third round:

63s Shot by Matt Kuchar
Year Tournament Round
2010 Greenbrier Classic 3rd
2010 Bob Hope Classic 5th
2009 Bob Hope Classic 4th
2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 2nd
2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 1st
2004 Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2nd

• Joining Lamely and Kuchar at 9-under 201 are Marc Leishman and Brandt Snedeker, who have also followed the same path this week, firing matching rounds of 68-68-65.

Rocco Mediate
Rocco Mediate carded a 7-under 63 for his best round on TOUR since a 63 in the final round of the 2003 SBS Championship. His career-low round on TOUR is a 62 on day two of the 2001 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

John Daly
• John Daly eagled Nos. 12 and 17 on Saturday en route to a 3-under 67.

Miscellaneous Stats
The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 14 of 31 stroke-play events on TOUR this year, most recently Louis Oosthuizen at the British Open.

• Bogey-free rounds on Saturday: Jonathan Byrd (64), Stuart Appleby (65), Charles Howell III (67), Roger Tambellini (65), Jim Furyk (67), Derek Lamely (63), Rocco Mediate (63), Aron Price (65), Marc Leishman (65), Troy Matteson (67), Briny Baird (68), J.J. Henry (64), Dean Wilson (66), Sergio Garcia (67), Roland Thatcher (65), Michael Letzig (66), Greg Chalmers (67), Craig Bowden (67).

Scoring Averages at the par-70 Old White Course
Day Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Thursday 34.116 35.471 69.587 ---
Friday 33.548 35.271 68.819 69.203
Saturday 32.529 34.435 66.965 68.722

• Saturday's 66.965 is the third-lowest single-round average of the season in relation to par, falling shy of the first- (69.857) and second-round (69.179) averages at the season-opening SBS Championship at the par-73 Plantation Course.

• The par-4 11th hole played the toughest during the third round, yielding a 4.024 average. The par-5 17th hole was the easiest with a 4.635 average.

Email This Story   Print This Story   RSS   Bookmark and Share
SHOP.PGATOUR.COM

Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM

FANTASY
Click Here
© 1995-2012 PGA TOUR, Inc. | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and the swinging golfer logo are registered trademarks.
Turner PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network