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•Woody Austin, the 54-hole leader, has never previously led a PGA TOUR event entering the final round and it's only the second time he’s played in the final grouping on Sunday. The last time he was in the final grouping was earlier this year when he was defending his title at the Buick Championship in Connecticut at the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands. Austin is playing in his sixth Valero Texas Open and is making his first appearance in San Antonio since 2002. His best-previous finish in this event was a tie for 29th in 2002. •21 of 36 54-hole leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win on the PGA TOUR this year, including three-round leaders/co-leaders at the last three events and in eight of the last nine tournaments. •Woody Austin is trying to win his third career victory on the PGA TOUR and end a victory drought of 31 events. Austin’s last win came at the 2004 Buick Championship. His first triumph on the TOUR was at the 1995 Buick Open. •Should 41-year-old Woody Austin win tomorrow, he would become the fourth straight winner of the Valero Texas Open over the age of 40 -- Bart Bryant, 2004 (41), Tommy Armour III, 2003 (43) and Loren Roberts, 2002 (47). •Robert Gamez’ last of two PGA TOUR titles came at the 1990 Nestle Invitational. Should he win tomorrow, he would end a victory drought of exactly 15 years and six months or 349 consecutive appearances on TOUR. •Mark Wilson and Dean Wilson are both searching for their first PGA TOUR victories. Mark Wilson is playing in his 77th career PGA TOUR event, while Dean Wilson is appearing in his 89th event on TOUR Dean Wilson finished in a tie for third at the 2004 Valero Texas Open, his best-ever finish to date on the circuit. Mark Wilson’s best-career finish on the PGA TOUR was a solo fourth at the 2003 HP Classic of New Orleans. •A total of 14 players have won their first PGA TOUR event at the Valero Texas Open: Chick Harbert (1942), Tony Holguin (1953), Mike Souchak (1955), Jay Hebert (1957), Bill Johnston (1958), Harold Henning (1966), Deane Beman (1969), Ben Crenshaw (1973), Terry Diehl (1974), Ron Streck (1978), Bob Estes (1994), Duffy Waldorf (1995), David Ogrin (1996) and Bart Bryant (2004).
•Woody Austin Round Three Statistics -- Tournament
Statistics: •Through three rounds, Woody Austin is 12-under par on the front nine this week and 1 under on the back nine. Both Robert Gamez and Mark Wilson are 9 under on the front nine and three-under on the back. Dean Wilson is 4 under on the front nine and 7 under on the back nine. •Saturday’s third-round scoring average of 70.297 was slightly lower than yesterday’s 70.371 stroke average. Here’s a comparison of the third-round scoring averages at The Resort Course at LaCantera over the last five years: Category 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Scoring Avg. 69.448 68.694 68.756 68.139 70.297 Under-Par Scores 33 44 53 54 31 •A total of 18 players between Nos. 117-140 on the 2005 PGA TOUR Official Money List teed it up this week at the Valero Texas Open, with hopes of finishing the top 125 for the season to earn exempt status for 2006. Rich Beem remains exempt for 2006 by virtue of his 2002 PGA Championship victory. Here’s a look at how the 18 players have faired through three rounds:
Pos. Player, 2005 Earnings -- Status after three rounds •The Valero Texas Open is the fourth event on the 12-tournament PGA TOUR Fall Finish presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers slate. The Fall Finish, now in its sixth season, is of particular interest this year with so many season-long honors up for grabs, including Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, leading money winner, etc. The Fall Finish presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers is a 12-tournament series that includes enhanced purses and bonus awards totaling $1 million, with $500,000 going to the top player. The series runs through the season-ending TOUR Championship. Points are awarded for each top-10 finish, from 100 points for first place to 10 for 10th. Vijay Singh won the title in each of the last three seasons. Bob Estes won the series in 2001, while Tiger Woods won in 2000. •A total of 10 players currently among the top 50 on the 2005 PGA TOUR Official Money List made the cut this week at the Valero Texas Open. Top 30 status at the end through the Chrysler Championship gains entry in the season-ending TOUR Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. Fred Couples is currently No. 30 with $1,696,696. Here’s a look at the players battling for TOUR Championship berths:
Pos. Player, 2005 Earnings -- Status after three round •Chad Campbell of Lewisville, Texas, has made a nice recovery since Thursday. After opening with a 4-over-par 74, Campbell found himself in a tie for 132nd. He then posted his best back-to-back rounds of the year. Campbell fashioned a 5-under 65 on Friday and made the cut on the number at 1-under 139 (tie for 54th). Campbell added a second consecutive 65 today and moved up into a tie for 15th after 54 holes. •58-year-old David Lundstrom earned a spot into this year’s Valero Texas Open by virtue of his victory in the Southwest Texas PGA Section Championship. Lundstrom stands in a tie for 43rd through 54 holes at two-under 208. •Defending champion Brad Bryant stands in a tie for 15th through 54 holes at 6-under-par 204. •J.J. Henry had the only bogey-free round of the day … Bob Heintz' bogey at the Par-4, No. 15, ended his streak without a bogey at this year’s Valero Texas Open at 50 |
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