Crowne Plaza Invitational: Third-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff FORT WORTH, Texas -- The third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial was called due to inclement weather at 7:29 p.m. CT on Saturday. Players will resume their third rounds at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. • At the time of suspension, Scott Verplank, Rory Sabbatini, Pat Perez, Kevin Na, Arron Oberholser, and Ben Curtis were tied for the lead at 9 under par.  Rory Sabbatini had seven third-round birdies before play was halted Saturday. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)
• Verplank and Sabbatini were the two hottest players on the golf course when play was called. Verplank was 5 under through 13 holes and Sabbatini was at 6 under through 12. • Verplank is in position to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1946 to capture the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial in the same season. Players who have won both events in their career include Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Julius Boros, Roberto De Vicenzo, Bruce Devlin, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, Bruce Lietzke, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. • The cut at this year's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial fell at 1-under-par 139 after two rounds. This marks the first time in tournament history that the 36-hole cut has been under par. The Colonial has had a cut every year since 1969. • A total of 70 players made the cut on Saturday. This total marks the fewest players to make a 70 and ties cut on the PGA TOUR in 2007. The previous low was 71 players at the Verizon Heritage. The high total for 2007 is 85 players, which came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wachovia Championship. • The third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial was played with "preferred lies." This is the fifth tournament on the 2007 PGA TOUR to feature a round using preferred lies. The others were the Mercedes-Benz Championship (Rounds 2-3-4), AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (Rounds 1-2-3-4), WGC-CA Championship (Rounds 1-2) and Shell Houston Open (Rounds 3-4). • Tim Clark's two round total of 129 ties the low first 36-hole total on the 2007 PGA TOUR. Jeff Quinney (FBR Open), Luke Donald (Sony Open in Hawaii), and Paul Goydos (Sony Open in Hawaii) all sat at 129 at the halfway point of their respective events. • Seven of 19 second-round leaders or co-leaders on the 2007 PGA TOUR have gone on to win the tournament. Tiger Woods (World Golf Championships-CA Championship, Wachovia Championship) and Phil Mickelson (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, THE PLAYERS Championship) have each won twice when in that position. • Through two rounds, defending champion Tim Herron finds himself T18 with rounds of 67-68--135. The last defending champion to successfully defend his title was Ben Hogan in 1953. Hogan was also able to defend his 1946 title in 1947. The only player to successfully defend his 2006 PGA TOUR title this year was Tiger Woods at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. • Justin Leonard extended his cuts made streak at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial this week. Leonard is now 14 for 14 in making the cut at this event and sits in second to Gary Player (17 for 17) on the all-time list. Stewart Cink (11) and Tim Petrovic (5) are the two other players in the field with a minimum of five career starts to extend their streaks as well. • Bogey-free second rounds by players who made the cut: Tim Clark (64), Nathan Green (66), Tom Lehman (67), Jerry Kelly (64), J.J. Henry (67), Scott Verplank (66), and Bob Tway (64).
• Through 36 holes, Colonial Country Club has yielded only two eagles, both of which came in the first round. The Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial has produced a double-digit count in eagles every year since 1998. • 2006 Ben Hogan Award winner Matthew Every fired rounds of 69-66--135 and finds himself in contention this weekend. Other Ben Hogan Award winners to play this week include Mark Wilson (1996), D.J. Trahan (2002), Hunter Mahan (2003), and Ryan Moore (2005). The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to the nation's top men's Division I, II, or III, NAIA, or junior college golfer, and is presented on the Monday of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial's tournament week. • Players who perform well on par 4s usually perform well overall. Through 36 holes, Jim Furyk leads the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial with 12 birdies on the 24 par-4 holes he has played. Tim Clark, Arron Oberholser, Alex Cejka, Nathan Green, and Anthony Kim join Furyk as players who are in the top-10 in Par-4 Birdie or Better Leaders as well as the leaderboard. • The par-4 fifth re-claimed its spot as the hardest hole at Colonial Country Club on Saturday. Through two rounds, the hole has played to an average of 4.166, putting it back in first place and ahead of the par-3 fourth (3.126), which was the most difficult hole after the first round. • On the flip side, the par-5 first continues to be an easy start for the players. After the completion of the second round, the first played to an average of 4.665, making it the easiest hole on the course. The opening hole at Colonial Country Club has played as the easiest hole every year since 1982, with the exception of 1997 and 1989, when it was second. • Rod Curl, Rich Beem and Todd Hamilton withdrew before second-round play resumed on Saturday afternoon. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network