The Starter, Round 3: HP Byron Nelson Championship

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May. 22, 2010

The third round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship is set to begin. Here's a look at Saturday's round:

Groups We're Watching
Tee time Players  
1:45 p.m. ET
No. 1
Cameron Beckman, Blake Adams
Beckman and Adams lead the tournament by one stroke, with plenty of big names at their heels.
12:42 p.m. ET,
No. 1
Corey Pavin, Rory Sabbatini
Sabbatini is fighting to defend his title and Pavin is looking to complete his Texas slam.
11:39 a.m. ET,
No. 1
Jordan Spieth*, Tom Pernice, Jr.
Sixteen-year-old Jordan Spieth made the cut, how will he handle the weekend?

SMITH MAKES THE CUT: It's been a week full of great stories, and here's one more: Chris Smith will be playing the weekend at TPC Four Seasons.

smith1.jpg
Smith

Smith lost his wife Beth in an automobile crash last June that also injured his children, Abigail and Cameron. Since then, Smith hasn't played much -- just four combined starts on the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour this spring -- and he hadn't made a cut.

Until Friday. Smith produced a 69 that made the cut with a shot to spare, and with the advantage swinging to the early groups on Saturday, Smith has a real shot at making an impact this weekend.

PGATOUR.COM's Melanie Hauser wrote extensively on Smith's plight earlier this year when he returned to golf at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

NOTEBOOK: There hasn't been a repeat winner at the HP Byron Nelson Championship since Tom Watson pulled off the trick in 1980 back when the tournament was still held at Preston Trail. Defending champion Rory Sabbatini hasn't made a lot of noise this week, but he's in prime lurking position at 5 under, just five strokes off the lead. Sabbatini will need to straighten out his driver this weekend, though -- he's hit just 9 of 28 fairways. ...

Saturday's forecast

Partly cloudly
Temp: 91 high/73 low
Few clouds, no rain. Winds around 19 mph.

Sabbatini will be paired with Corey Pavin in Saturday's round. They will make one of the most interesting twosomes of the day. While Sabbatini is looking for a rare repeat, Pavin is looking to achieve what no player has ever done -- win at all four Texas stops on the PGA TOUR. "I've been trying to do that for a long time," he said. "I don't know if I'm too old or not, but I'm trying hard. It's a big golf course for me but I'm just trying to manage my game and play it the best I can and just see what happens the next couple of days." ...

Another savvy veteran who's lurking is past Nelson champ Scott Verplank, also at 5 under. In fact, the group of seven players at 5 under is downright scary. Besides Sabbatini, Pavin and Verplank, there's also 20-somethings Sean O'Hair and Dustin Johnson, each a three-time winner on TOUR, along with Joe Durant -- who carded consecutive eagles in the first round -- and Chris Riley, who posted a second-round 64. -- Mike McAllister

The Film Room
PGA TOUR Today
Cameron Beckman ties the course record with a 61 on Friday, while 16-year-old Jordan Spieth becomes the sixth youngest player to make the cut on the PGA TOUR. Watch it
Second Round Highlights
Cameron Beckman shoots a course record 9-under 61 during Round 2 coverage of the 2010 Byron Nelson Championship. Watch it
Shot of the Day
Jason Day eagles the par-5 7th to move to 6-under during Round 2 coverage of the 2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship. Watch it
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