Children's Miracle Network Classic: Third-round notes
By Chris Reimer, PGA TOUR Staff
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- This is the 17th time that Scott Verplank has led or shared the lead through three rounds of a tournament and the 15th time during a 72-hole event. Verplank has converted three of those leads into victories. The last time Verplank held or shared a lead thru 54 holes was at this event last year, when he finished tied for third. The last time Verplank converted a 54-hole lead into a victory was the Bell Canadian Open in 2001.
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• Verplank has a streak of 14 straight rounds at par or better dating back to the first round at the BMW Championship in September. The current leader in rounds at par or better is Steve Marino at 17, who is tied with Verplank at 19 under par.
• Verplank has now made 13 consecutive cuts at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, which is the longest active streak for the tournament.
• Verplank has been at par or better at the Disney event since 2004, a streak of 18 straight rounds. Verplank only has five rounds over par in the 53 career rounds at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.
• Marino's three-round total of 65-66-66--197 is the lowest 54-hole total of his PGA TOUR career. This is the first time that Marino has held or shared the 54-hole lead.
• Marino is bogey-free through 54 holes this week. The last player to go bogey-free and win a tournament was Lee Trevino in 1974 (Greater New Orleans Open). The last player to go bogey-free and not win a tournament was Bubba Watson at the 2006 Chrysler Classic of Tucson, where he finished tied for third.
• Marino is looking for his first PGA TOUR victory in his 65th career start. Marino has tallied 49 cuts (counting this event), 22 top-25 finishes and nine top-10 finishes. His best career finish (2) came this year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. He has gone 58 holes without a bogey going back to the 14th hole of the final round of the Ginn sur Mer Classic.
• In his 16th appearance at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, Davis Love III shot an 8-under-par 64 Saturday to move from a tie for 19th to a tie for third. Love has six top-10 finishes in his career at this event, trailing Larry Nelson and Payne Stewart's seven top-10 finishes for the most in tournament history. All six of Love's top-10s have been inside the top 5 -- the most of any player.
• In 60 rounds at this event, Love has a 68.51 scoring average. Love now has 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s at this event, which is the longest active streak and matches the tournament's all-time record streak at 14 held by Tiger Woods.
• Love's $1,127,950.34 in career winnings at Disney is the third highest behind Woods ($1,542,166.67) and Vijay Singh ($1,525,303.57).
• Love's three-round total of 66-69-64-199 is his best 54-hole start since the opening three rounds of the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii, where he opened 70-65-63--198. The 64 is his lowest round on TOUR since a third-round 64 at this event in 2006, when Love finished tied for fifth. Love has gone 39 holes without a bogey and played his second and third rounds bogey-free.
• Scott Sterling opened the tournament with a 2-under-par 70, but second and third rounds of 63-66 have moved him in a tie for third. Sterling, who is currently No. 153 on the money list, will need another solid round to have a chance to move into the top 125 and retain his PGA TOUR card for the 2009 season. The 63 was the lowest round of Sterling's PGA TOUR career.
• Erik Compton, playing on a sponsor exemption, is five months removed from his second heart transplant. Compton last played in a PGA TOUR event in 2005 with a tie for 44th at the Ford Championship at Doral. Coming into this event, Compton had played in 11 PGA TOUR events since 2000, making the cut five times. Compton played in his first PGA TOUR event as an amateur in 2000. Compton birdied on his final two holes on Saturday to shoot 72 on the day and finish at 6 under par for the tournament (tie for 49th).
• A top-30 finish on the season-ending money list earns invitations to the following year's Masters and the U.S. Open. In addition, a top-70 finish on the money list will yield trips to several significant invitationals, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament. 2007 Turning Stone Resort Championship winner Steve Flesch is a perfect example of the advantages of playing well in the Fall Series. He used his $1,080,000 first-place paycheck for winning at Turning Stone to move all the way from No. 70 on the official money list to No. 25 (he finished the season No. 26) to earn exemptions into the Masters and the U.S. Open. Flesch was on the Masters leaderboard all week until fading on the back nine on Sunday, but still finished tied for fifth to earn an invite to Augusta in 2009.
• Jeff Overton, who is currently No. 125 on the money list fell to a tie for 30th after the third round at 10 under par. Overton underwent an appendectomy on Oct. 21 and finished tied for 18th a week later at the Ginn sur Mer Classic to move from No. 126 to No. 125 on the money list. Two days prior to the surgery, Overton was at No. 122 on the money list following his tie for 69th at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
• Tommy Armour III withdrew following the third round due to a hand injury.
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