Northern Trust Open: Third-Round Notebook

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- One group on each side (six players) completed their second round on Saturday morning, which led to an 8:15 a.m. start of round three, consisting of 78 players at +3 to make the cut.

History indicates that Fred Couples is in for a solid finish at Riviera. (Dunn/WireImage)

• At 37 years and 8 months to the day, Phil Mickelson took his 26th outright third-round lead. Of the previous 25 54-hole leads, Mickelson has parlayed an impressive 18 into victories. Last year alone, Mickelson was 1 for 2 in said position. In 2007, Mickelson claimed his 30th PGA TOUR win after holding the third-round lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. A week later, Mickelson lost his 54-hole lead via a playoff to Charles Howell III here at the Northern Trust Open.

• Jeff Quinney used a 7-iron from 163 yards at the par-3 6th hole to make an ace, temporarily overtaking Mickelson's lead, until Mickelson made birdie on the sixth hole. The ace was the 13th hole-in-one at the sixth and 32nd overall at Riviera since 1983, two of which came in 2007. Those came from Retief Goosen on the par-3 16th hole in the second round and by Rich Beem on the par-3 14th hole in the third round.

• This is not the first time Phil Mickelson and Jeff Quinney have been head-to-head in competition. In last year's PLAYERS Championship, Quinney played in the second-to-last group behind Mickelson, who again took a one-shot lead over Quinney into Sunday's final round. Mickelson ultimately won by five over Quinney, who finished tied for sixth.

• This marks the fourth time in six starts at the Northern Trust Open in which John Rollins has made the cut. He has recorded three top-20 finishes in those situations and has third-round scores of 67 (2007), 64 (2006), and 67 (2002).

• At the conclusion of round three, 1990 Northern Trust Open champion Fred Couples was tied for 29th after a 1-over-par 72. But if numbers are an indication, Couples could be in for a solid Sunday finish as the 48-year-old has posted top-10 finishes in four of his last seven starts at Riviera, including a solo fourth in 2006.

• There have been five bogey-free rounds recorded this week: K.J. Choi (-6), Kevin Na (-5), Cody Freeman (-1) and Dustin Johnson (-3) on Thursday, none on Friday and from D.J. Trahan (-5) on Saturday.

• The toughest hole on Saturday proved to be the par-3 fourth hole. The fourth hole surrendered just two birdies all day and claimed 26 bogeys or worse with a scoring average of 3.321.

• Conversely, it was the 503-yard, par-5 first hole which ranked as the easiest Saturday, playing 35 under par with a scoring average of 4.513.