Tim Herron, winner of last week’s Bank of America Colonial in Texas, is looking to become the first back-to-back winner on the PGA TOUR since Phil Mickelson won the BellSouth Classic and the Masters on consecutive weeks earlier this season.

• The 54-hole co-leaders -- Tim Herron and Tom Pernice, Jr. are at 7-under 203, the highest point in relation to par for a third-round leader in this event since Larry Mize, Gary Koch, Mike Hulbert (champion) and Howard Twitty shared the lead at 5-under par in 1986 at Colonial Country Club.

• This is the ninth time in his 11-year career that Tim Herron has held/shared the 54-hole lead. All four of his PGA TOUR wins came when he was in this position, including last week at the Bank of America Colonial. Herron also held the 72-hole lead at the 90-hole 2003 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he finished in a tie for third.

• This is the third time in his 15-year career that Tom Pernice, Jr. has held/shared the 54-hole lead. Pernice was a co-leader at the 2005 FUNAI Classic at WALT DISNEY World Resort where he finished second to Lucas Glover. He also held the 3rd-round lead at The INTERNATIONAL in 2001, a modified stableford event, on the way to his second career win.

• Kris Cox put together his career-best round on the PGA TOUR Saturday -- a bogey-free, 7-under-par 63. Cox, a 2005 Nationwide Tour graduate, hit 17 of 18 greens en route to his jump up the leaderboard Saturday. His previous best round was a 66 in the 4th round of this year’s Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he missed the 72-hole cut. Cox’ career-best finish is a tie for 18th at this event in 2004. Prior to this week, Cox had missed five straight cuts on Tour.

• Kris Cox’ 63 was the best round of the week thus far, bettering Chris Smith’s opening-day 64 and Darron Stiles’ 64 in round two.

• Two-time champion David Toms (2003, 2004) made a double-bogey 7 on the par-5, third hole Saturday. Toms drove the ball in the left rough, advanced it 49 yards, then hit his third shot in the water. The double-bogey is the first for Toms at TPC Southwind since he made a double-bogey 6 at the par-18th hole (his ninth of the day) in the second round of 2001 -- a span of 371 holes. The 7 also represents the highest score on any single hole for Toms in this event since a triple-bogey, 8 at the same hole during the final round in 1999.

• Players who were bogey-free Saturday:
Kris Cox -- 63
Tjaart van der Walt -- 67

• Nick Price, a winner of this event in 1993and 1998, is tied for eighth place heading into Sunday’s final round. Price does not have a top-10 finish on his resume since a tie for ninth at the 2005 U.S. Open. This is his eighth start in 2006.

• Jay Delsing moved into contention with a 4-under 66 and is tied for fourth after 54 holes. Delsing missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his only start on the PGA TOUR this year. Delsing has made eight starts on the Nationwide Tour this year and his best finish is a tie for fifth at the Rheem Classic in Fort Smith, Ark. two weeks ago.

• Defending champion Justin Leonard posted a 3-under 67 Saturday to get to 2-under 208 for the tournament. Leonard is tied for 11th place with one round to go.

• Zach Johnson and Gabriel Hjertstedt each posted even-par 70s thanks to 16 pars, one birdie and one bogey each. Memphis resident Doug Barron can go them one better. Barron had one bogey and 17 pars during his third round.

• Scoring averages for the week:

            Front 9   Back 9   Total   Cumulative
Thursday    36.364   36.786   73.149
Friday      36.074   35.635   71.709
Saturday    35.459   35.743   71.203   72.199    

• Veteran John Cook (67/tied for fourth) is seeking his first top-10 finish of the season. Cook, winner of this event in 1996, hasn’t been higher than a tie for 18th at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson this year. His last top-10 was a tie for fifth at the 2005 Southern Farm Bureau Classic.

• The leaderboard has a decidedly “veteran” look going into the final round. The last player in his 40s to win this event was Nick Price (41 years, 6 months, 4 days) in 1998. The oldest player to win this tournament was Gene Littler in 1975 at age 44 years, 10 months, 4 days.
T1 -- Tom Pernice, Jr., 46 years old
T4 -- Jay Delsing, 45 years old
T4 -- John Cook, 48 years old
T6 -- Jeff Maggert, 42 years old
T8 -- Nick Price, 49 years old (turns 50 on Jan. 28, 2007)
T15 -- Dan Forsman, 47 years old
T15 -- Michael Allen, 47 years old

• As leader/co-leaders after 54 holes. Tim Herron and Tom Pernice, Jr. are the winners of the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge, a season-long competition that recognizes and rewards the tournament leader(s) entering the final round at 35 PGA TOUR events in 2006. This week, AstraZeneca donates $100,000 on behalf of Herron, Pernice and the FedEx St. Jude Classic to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology for their National Asthma Screening Program. At 16 of the first 18 tournaments in 2006, the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner/co-winner went on to win the tournament, including Tim Herron at last week’s Bank of America Colonial.

• Here’s how the five former champions who made the cut have fared after 54 holes:
2005 -- Justin Leonard, 72-69-67—208, T11
2004, 2003 -- David Toms, 69-67-72—208, T11
2001 -- Bob Estes, 71-70-69—209, T18
1998, 1993 -- Nick Price, 68-70-69—207, T8
1996 -- John Cook, 69-69-67—205, T4