Scherrer sets tournament record, leads by three in Springfield
 
Jul. 21, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Two weeks ago, Tom Scherrer made a few changes to his putting stroke. Since then, the 37-year-old finished tied for fifth at last week's Nationwide Tour event and holds a three-stroke lead following the third round of the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper.

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Tom Scherrer has made only two bogeys all week. (WireImage)

Scherrer, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Friday with a 9-under-par 63 that included a hole-in-one, continued to play well on Saturday and finished with a tournament record after three rounds with a score of 21-under-par. Along with a PGA TOUR victory at the 2000 Kemper Open, Scherrer has also won twice on the Nationwide Tour. Sunday will be the first time since the 2000 Tucson Open that Scherrer has held or shared the lead after three rounds.

"It was a good day. We all played nicely together and pushed each other," said the University of North Carolina graduate. "It's been a while since I've put three rounds together like this. You definitely don't shoot these numbers that often. But this is what we play for."

Scherrer's round could have been as many as two strokes better. After laying up on the par 5 18th hole, Scherrer's approach from 100 yards hit the flag stick and bounced just off the green and almost into the water. He got up and down to stay at 21-under for the tournament.

"That was a little unlucky. It could have gone in for three but was certainly going to be a fairly easy putt for a birdie," he said. "But I was fortunate enough to get up and down, so it didn't sting too bad."

Scherrer will be joined on Sunday by a familiar face and good friend Franklin Langham, who coincidently finished second when Scherrer won the Kemper Open.

The University of Georgia graduate had a bulldog of a day and was forced to play 32 holes on Saturday after thunderstorms made the course unplayable shortly into his second round on Friday afternoon. He shot a second-round 64 and followed that with a third-round 6-under-par 66 to move to three shots off the lead at 18-under-par. Langham has played 42 holes without a bogey.

He has made five cuts this year in the 14 Nationwide Tour events that he has played. While he is not satisfied with the outcome, the two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour could tell his game was starting to come along after his best finish of the year last week at the Nationwide Tour Children's Hospital Invitational.

"I felt like I was out there forever today. But the good news is that I won't have any trouble sleeping," Langham said. "I figured out a few things in my swing two weeks ago. I've been working real hard all year. I played real solid last week and it is a good feeling to start hitting the ball well again."

First-round leader Justin Bolli continued his solid play this week. For the tournament, Bolli has carded rounds of 65-66-67 and finished Saturday three strokes off the lead. In 2006, Justin Bolli shot four consecutive rounds of 66 to finish at 24-under and tied for third. Behind two top-10 finishes, Bolli ranks 20th on the money list this season.

John Kimbell shot the low third-round of the tournament with an 8-under-par 64 that moved him from T24 to T5 at 13-under. Kimbell, who didn't start playing golf until he was 22 years old, won the inaugural South Georgia Classic in Valdosta in April for his first Nationwide Tour victory. The victory was the last top-10 finish for Kimbell who had missed the cut in his last five events. Kimbell birdied six of his last nine holes to shoot 30 on the back nine.

Third-Round News & Notes: In the tournament's history, the leader or co-leader after three rounds has only gone on to win three times.... Scherrer's 54-hole score of 20-under-par 196 matches the tournament record set last year by Nick Flanagan, Jeff Quinney and Boo Weekley... Bogey-free third rounds were turned in by Franklin Langham, Chad Collins, John Kimbell, Brian Guetz, Edward Loar, Todd Demsey, Jeff Klauk, Keoke Cotner, Chris Anderson, Tim Wilkinson, Patrick Sheehan and Richard Swift.... The scoring average for the third round was 69.472. The 2.528 strokes under-par average is the lowest single-round scoring average of the season so far on the Nationwide Tour.