Third-round notebook: Travelers Championship

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Vijay Singh is seeking his 32nd PGA TOUR win.

• At 15-under-par, Stewart Cink holds a two-stroke lead over Heath Slocum following the third round at the Travelers Championship. His 195 total is his best 54-hole score of his career. His previous low 54-hole score of 198 came in 2003 at both the Valero Texas Open and the FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort. Cink, who is currently No. 7 in the 2008 regular season FedExCup points standings, could move as high as third with a victory this week.

• Cink is ranked No. 1 for the week in putts per round with 26 over the first three days.

• It is the 10th time that Cink has held or shared the third-round lead in his career. He has gone on to victory in one of those events when he was the wire-to-wire winner of the 2004 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

• Cink's finishes after holding or sharing the third-round lead:

• Cink recorded the first of his four PGA TOUR victories in 1997 at the Travelers Championship and nearly defended his title with a T2 finish the following year. The 35-year-old Georgia Tech graduate is attempting to become the fourth player in tournament's 58-year history to win multiple times.

• Players with multiple victories at the Travelers Championship :

• Saturday's scoring average of 68.167 marks the lowest third-round average since stats started being collected in 1983. The previous low third-round average was 69.218. It is the second-lowest in tournament history next to the 68.059 in final round of 2001.

• Riding the momentum of a final-round 65 that moved him into a T9 finish at the U.S. Open last week, two-time PGA TOUR winner Heath Slocum has continued to play well this week at the Travelers Championship. Slocum hit 13 of 14 fairways on Saturday to add a third-round 64 to his opening rounds of 67-66 and is alone in second place at 13-under par. The 197 total sets a career-low for Slocum through 54 holes. His previous best of 199 came at the 2004 Valero Texas Open.

• Playing for the fifth time at the Travelers Championship, Slocum has never missed the cut at this event with his best finish (T18) coming in 2003.

• By making it to the weekend, Heath Slocum has now made 13 consecutive cuts this season. His last missed cut came in February at the Northern Trust Open. This is Slocum's longest stretch of consecutive cuts since he began playing on the PGA TOUR in 2001. He has four top-10 finishes this season.

• Vijay Singh, who has two runner-up finishes and one third-place finish in 2008, is looking to get his first victory of the year. Singh shot a third-round 6-under-par 64 to move to 12-under-par for the tournament and is in a group of five players who are three strokes off the lead. The 45-year-old's last win came at the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. In four previous attempts at the Travelers Championship, he has three-top 15 finishes including a 4th place finish last year.

• Also at 12-under-par, defending champion Hunter Mahan is trying to join Phil Mickelson (2001, 2002) as the only other player in the tournament's 55-year history to successfully defend his title. Mahan, who defeated Jay Williamson in a playoff at this event last year for his first PGA TOUR victory, also finished T2 in 2006 and has now made five consecutive cuts at the Travelers Championship. He is the leading money winner in tournament history with more than $1.5 million.

• Since his win here last year, Mahan has moved from No. 202 to No. 37 in the Official World Golf Ranking, finished 15th in the final 2007 FedExCup standings and played in The Presidents Cup for the victorious U. S. team.

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Kevin Streelman

• D.J. Trahan, Kevin Streelman and Chad Campbell each took advantage of morning conditions posting matching 8-under-par 62s. Streelman moved to 12-under-par for the tournament, while Trahan and Campbell each finished the day at 11-under

• Kevin Streelman, who shared the lead after the first round of the U.S. Open, rebounded from a tough 3-over-par 73 opening round at the Travelers Championship with rounds of 63-62 and is now 12-under-par for the tournament. The consecutive rounds of 63-62-125 set a new tournament record for consecutive rounds (36 holes) and are one shot off the PGA TOUR record for consecutive rounds set by Mark Calcavecchia (60-64) at the 2001 Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale during rounds 2 and 3. Since finishing the first round at T142, Streelman is now T8.

• Streelman's previous best round was a 65 at the 2005 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Streelman shot a bogey-free round on Saturday that included six birdies and an eagle.

• The 62 for Trahan, who finished T4 at last week's U.S. Open, is his lowest career round on the PGA TOUR. His previous low was a 64 at this year's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic where he recorded his second career PGA TOUR victory by overcoming a four-stroke deficit. Trahan shot a bogey-free round on Saturday which included eight birdies and a 5-under-par 30 on the back nine.

• Campbell has been consistent this year with eight top-25 finishes including a tie for 2nd at the Shell Houston Open and a T10 at THE PLAYERS Championship. Campbell finished T15 last year in his only other appearance at the Travelers Championship. He is looking for his fifth PGA TOUR win. Campbell's 62 is one off his career best 61 at the 2004 Colonial Invitational presented by Crowne Plaza.

• At 11-under-par, Chris DiMarco is in search of his first top-10 of the season and also shot his third consecutive round in the 60s with scores of 66-69-64. The last time the University of Florida graduate recorded three consecutive rounds in the 60s was the 2007 PODS Championship. DiMarco's third round of 8-under-par 64 is his lowest since shooting a 64 during the opening round at last year's Travelers Championship. DiMarco is looking for his first top-10 of the 2008 season and his first since last year's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. The 39-year-old who was born in Huntington, NY, is playing for the ninth time at the Travelers Championship. His best finish at this event is a T3 in 2001.

• The third-round leader has gone on to win 13 of the 26 stroke-play events this year on the PGA TOUR.

• Due to expected afternoon thunderstorms, players will be paired in groups of three on Sunday and will start their rounds on both the first and 10th tee for their final round beginning at 7:30 a.m. with the leaders teeing off at 9:30 a.m.