Bob Hope Classic: Round 3 notebook

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LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Sunny weather returned to the area on Saturday and the final tally on total rainfall was 3.35 inches since the start of the week. The annual rainfall in the area is around 5 inches.

• Third-round leader Alex Prugh is making just his third start on the PGA TOUR. He made his first by qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Open (MC) and his second at last week's Sony Open in Hawaii (T72). The former University of Washington standout earned his 2010 TOUR card by finishing 16th on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list. The top 25 finishers on the list earn TOUR cards. He won the Nationwide Tour's 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open.

• This marks the seventh consecutive year a player has held sole possession of the lead after 54 holes at this tournament.

• Prugh is the first rookie to be atop the leaderboard at this tournament since John Senden was the 36-hole leader in 2002.

• Here are Alex Prugh's statistics through 54 holes:

• Rookie Martin Flores ran his string of bogey-free holes to 54 when he had another flawless scorecard on Saturday. Including last week's Sony Open in Hawaii, that streak is 55 holes and the only blemish in his last 74 holes is a double bogey at No. 17 in the final round last week in Honolulu.

• Like Prugh, Flores is a Nationwide Tour product, having made nine starts (four cuts) in 2009. The University of Oklahoma graduate earned a berth on TOUR by finishing fourth at the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament.

• Chris Couch recorded the second hole-in-one of this year's tournament on Saturday. Couch used a wedge from 140 yards at No. 7 on the Nicklaus Course to achieve the feat.

• As a point of reference, here is where the leaders stood after 54 holes in the previous five years:

• Ryan Palmer continues his climb up the leaderboard. After an opening-round 72, the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii winner has posted rounds of 67-64 to move from T93 after the first round to T15 entering the final two rounds.

• Can lightning strike twice for the Haas' family at the Bob Hope Classic? Bill Haas is currently T5 with 36 holes to go and trails Prugh by five strokes. Haas' father, Jay, won the tournament in 1988, one of his nine TOUR titles.

• Kevin Streelman fashioned the day's low round, a 9-under-par 63 (Nicklaus Course) on Saturday. Palmer, Chad Campbell and Jason Dufner all shot 64s.

• Tim Clark has posted more birdies than any other player with 23 through 54 holes.

• Ron Skayhan withdrew after his round on Saturday with a heel injury.