By Bill Cooney, PGA TOUR.COM Rookie Jonas Blixt was in prime position to pick up his first PGA TOUR victory last week. Tied for the lead after 54 holes of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Blixt fired a final-round 70 and finished third. Then he provided an intriguing anecdote on Sunday night. Blixt, a Florida State grad, watched (or heard) about the Seminoles' upset loss to North Carolina State last Saturday -- this prior to arguably the biggest round of his life. "Feels like I'm moving in the right direction and (my swing is) getting better," Blixt, a candidate for PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, said last Sunday night. "So if it wasn't for the Seminoles last night, I probably would be sitting down there with a trophy right now." This week, Florida State defeated Boston College 51-7. So will Blixt have higher spirits today, follow suit and win for the first time at the Frys.com Open? In any case, Blixt has certainly been knocking on the door. He has four top 10s this season -- including a third last week and a T3 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Blixt also ranks third on the PGA TOUR in strokes gained-putting -- always a good asset on Sundays. Blixt carded a back-nine 5-under 31 on Saturday to get into contension again. "The front nine is a little harder. The back nine you can make a couple birdies," Blixt said Saturday night. "Hopefully I can finish like I did (Saturday)."

With a victory today at the Frys.com Open at CordeValle ... John Mallinger -- Earns his first career PGA TOUR victory at the age of 33 years, 20 days in his 157 ^th career start on TOUR. -- Earns exempt PGA TOUR status for the remainder of 2012 and all of 2013 and 2014 seasons. -- Becomes the seventh first-time winner on TOUR this year and first since Ted Potter Jr. at the Greenbrier Classic in July. -- Becomes the second first-time winner in the six year history of the Frys.com Open (2011/Bryce Molder). -- Becomes the third straight player to carry the third-round lead/co-lead onto victory on TOUR and 16 ^th on the season. -- 2012 starts-made cuts-top-10s-wins: 24-13-3-1 (Projected with a win today) -- Earns a spot into the following 2013 PGA TOUR events: Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Humana Challenge, Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, PLAYERS Championship, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the Memorial Tournament, AT&T National and PGA Championship. -- PROJECTED to move inside the top 45 on the PGA TOUR money list. Top 30 on season ending list earns an invitation to the 2013 Masters. Mallinger has never played in the Masters. Jonas Blixt -- Earns his 1 ^st career PGA TOUR victory at the age of 28 years, 5 months and 21 days in his 19 ^th career start on TOUR.  -- Earns exempt PGA TOUR status for the remainder of 2012 and all of 2013 and 2014 season. -- Becomes the seventh first-time winner on TOUR this year and first since Ted Potter Jr. at the Greenbrier Classic in July. -- Becomes the second first-time winner in the six year history of the Frys.com Open (2011/Bryce Molder). -- Becomes the third rookie winner on TOUR this year and first since Ted Potter Jr. at the Greebrier Classic in July. The other rookie to win was John Huh at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. -- With a win today would be the second straight player in his 20s to win on TOUR and fourth in the last five events. -- Joins Carl Pettersson (RBC Heritage) as the only Swedish players to win on TOUR this season. -- 2012 starts-made cuts-top-10s-wins: 19-13-5-1 (Projected with a win today) -- With a win will earn a spot in the 2013 PGA Championship, he has never played in a major. -- PROJECTED to move inside the top 35 on the PGA TOUR money list. Top 30 on season ending list earns an invitation to the 2013 Masters. Blixt has never played in the Masters.

By: Fred Albers, PGA TOUR.COM Correspondent SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- Give John Mallinger credit for the most creative shot of the third round of the Frys.com Open on Saturday. Mallinger had an eagle putt on the 15th green but had to roll it over a knoll that would send the ball breaking hard to the left. A two-putt would have been challenging, so Mallinger decided not to putt. He used a wedge and chipped over the knoll from off the tight grass of the green, getting the ball to spin to a halt 3 feet above the hole. From there, Mallinger went on to make birdie. It’s officially recorded as a two-putt. Putting change: Vijay Singh was not giving away any secrets, but changes have been made. Singh says he discovered something that clicked in his putting during practice this week and has been confident on the greens. Singh would not elaborate, only saying it was a minor change to his grip. It has not been a good putting year for the Fijian. Singh is ranked 175th in strokes gained-putting. Even more troublesome, Singh is 151st in final-round scoring with a stroke average of 72.4. Family affair: Jonas Blixt had a good time on the golf course Saturday afternoon. He frequently chatted with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend during the course of play, laughing and joking as if it was the most casual of Saturday rounds. Blixt will be without their companionship on Sunday as the couple will not be at the golf course. Hold on: Saturday is known as "moving day" on the PGA TOUR but if you have a four-shot lead and are trying to win for the first time, then it becomes "Hold On Saturday." That's just what Mallinger did. He played well enough to hold on to his lead. Mallinger hit nine of 14 fairways and 11 greens but took 28 putts. He had putting rounds of 26 and 26 on both Thursday and Friday. He is now ranked 47th this week in strokes-gained-putting. Tough hole location: The cup was cut 15 paces onto the seventh green and five paces off the left. That hole location is just a few feet past a false front on the green and it created problems. Nicolas Colsaerts ran it off the green and made double bogey. Jhonattan Vegas blasted out of the back bunker, rolled it off the green and finally made a 15-footer for a one-putt bogey. Wife knows best?: If Mallinger wins on Sunday, he needs to thank his wife, Jan, who followed her husband, walking 18 holes in the third round, and worried over every shot. She constantly looked for a combination that would bring John good luck. Jan finally discovered if she carried her chapstick in her front left pocket and put her cell phone in her back left pocket, then John would make putts. With that specific combination, Mallinger birdied two of four holes. Jan says her mojo will be full force for Sunday. Fred Albers is a course reporter for SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio. For more information on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, click here.

John Mallinger's 36-hole lead was cut in half. The good news is he's still ahead by two shots after Round 3 as he chases his first PGA TOUR victory at the Frys.com Open. Mallinger carded a 1-under 70 and saw his lead dwindle from four shots to two via rookie Jonas Blixt heading into Sunday's final round at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif. You can watch the final round on Golf Channel, beginning at 4 p.m. ET. "I just didn't have it all," said Mallinger, who tied the course record with a 62 on Friday. "I didn't drive it as well as I did yesterday. I think I hit every fairway yesterday, and then today I just got off to a weird start. "But I hung around there and made some birdies on the back nine that got me back into position. Still got the lead, still got a good spot, and look forward to tomorrow." Mallinger has come close to breaking into the winner's circle before. He tied for second at this season's Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. He also finished second in a playoff to Bo Van Pelt at the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Blixt is in contention for the second straight week, having faded to a third-place finish at last week's J.T. Shriners Hospitals for Children Open after a final-round 70. "Just make birdies," Blixt said of his plan. "We'll see." Charles Howell III, seeking his first win since 2007, and Jason Kokrak are tied for third place at 12 under. Vijay Singh, who turns 50 in February, is in contention again and is tied for fifth place with Alexandre Rocha at 11 under. "I saw the leaderboard there at the end. Looks like there is a whole bunch guys up there, so it'll take something low tomorrow from whoever does it," Howell said. "The golf course is set up for it with a drivable par‑4 at 17. It's a neat finish."

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM Vijay Singh thinks he has the solution to the problematic putting that has plagued him on Sundays. After carding a 5-under 66 in the third round of the Frys.com Open on Saturday at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif., Singh said that he recently changed his putting grip and feels more confident with it. Singh, looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR since 2008, has contended multiple times this season until fading on Sunday. "The problem was my putting on the weekend," said Singh, who ranks 175th in strokes gained-putting this season but is 12th in that category this week. "I felt really weird with my putting stroke. It worked good for two days and (did not) under the gun. But this week has been looking good. I've changed my grip a little bit and it's flowing really freely. So that's a big plus." Singh ranks 18th on the PGA TOUR with a 70.20 scoring average in the first two rounds. But his final-round scoring average of 72.14 ranks 151st. Singh put himself in position for another run at a title with an incredible drive on the reachable par-4 17th. His drive ended 5 feet from the hole and he made the eagle putt. He made par on the 18th and finished at 11 under for the tournament -- within striking distance of the lead. "I think I can still play," said Singh, who turns 50 in February. "That’s the key. If I thought that I didn’t have it I’d hang up the visor. ... Going out there and knowing that I can win every week -- that’s what keeps me going." Afterward during an interview with Golf Channel, Singh was asked if he thought he had lived up to his expectations on the TOUR, given that he is making his 500th start this week. Singh has 34 career PGA TOUR wins -- including three major championships -- and won the 2008 FedExCup. "If you look at the starts I’ve had and the wins I’ve had, no I have not," Singh told Golf Channel. "I wish my percentage was a little better. Yes and no. I think I can do a lot better, could have done a lot better and I still can. ... I’m just enjoying it. My body feels good. I feel strong and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year." And Sundays, too.

This probably wasn't what Nicolas Colsaerts had in mind. Colsaerts, who entered Saturday's third round of the Frys.com Open at 9 under, had an up-and-down Saturday, finishing with an even-par round of 71 that didn't come without some fireworks. Colsaerts opened with birdies at Nos. 1 and 4 to climb to within three shots of leader John Mallinger, but then went bogey-bogey-double bogey-bogey. He has since made a birdie at the par-5 ninth hole and another at the par-4 10th to get back to 8 under. Colsaerts three-putted the fifth hole after a poor tee shot and bogeyed the sixth after another poor tee ball. On the par-3 seventh, Colsaerts hit his tee shot left and than couldn't reach the green until his third shot and two-putted for a 5.  He also bogeyed the eighth, but rebounded with a birdie on the ninth after he stuck his approach to within five feet. After the birdie at the 10th, he's five shots back of the lead. He went on to bogey the 11th before adding birdies on the 15th and 17th holes. Colsaerts would rank around 120th on the money list if eligible this season. He's attempting to earn his PGA TOUR card so he has status on both the PGA TOUR and European Tour next season. You can replay Colsaerts' round on SHOT TRACKER.

Maybe the fall weather was just what PGA TOUR rookie Russell Knox needed to get untracked. Knox, who grew up in Scotland, carded a bogey-free, 6-under 65 in the third round of the Frys.com Open and is at 10 under for the tournament. Knox has now made six straight cuts this season and is coming off a T13 at the J.T. Shriners Hospitals for Children Open -- his best finish of the season. Knox is 173rd on the money list, but is projected to move up to 142nd. Knox, 27, credits hard work, especially on his wedge play for his improved play of late. "I've just worked hard at it...," Knox told Golf Channel. "Ultimately turned bogeys into birdes. Makes it a lot easier."