Third round: Smooth, steady Pernice leads into Sunday
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- Tom Pernice Jr. was easy to ignore Saturday in the AT&T National until he wound up in the lead.
All he did was make 15 pars on an explosive afternoon of birdies and bogeys at Congressional, and his lone complaint was that he made only two putts longer than his shadow. One was from 4 feet for par, another from 7 feet for birdie.
But it was that steady hand that gave him a 1-under 69 and a one-shot lead over Steve Stricker, leaving the 48-year-old Pernice optimistic about winning for the first time in seven years.
"It will be interesting to see how it goes tomorrow," Pernice said. "But I'm looking forward to it."
There were plenty of fireworks on a calm, muggy afternoon that led to so many possibilities until Pernice got up-and-down from just short of the 18th green to finish at 10-under 210.
Stricker is worried about where his tee shots are going, but he made his only two bogeys from the middle of the fairway and made a birdie on the 218-yard 10th for the third straight day.
Jeff Overton, the co-leader with Pernice going into the third round, made back-to-back double bogeys by coming up short on the 14th and going over the hill on the 15th, then answered with consecutive birdies to get back in the game.
"I had it right there in the palm of my hand and just didn't quite squeeze it," said Overton, who shot 71 and was at 202 along with Tommy Armour III (66) and Nick O'Hern (67), the left-handed Aussie best known for beating Tiger Woods twice in match play.
Anthony Kim was entertaining as ever, going six holes without a par in the middle of his round.
One minute, the 23-year-old with enormous talent was firing away at flags and making birdies to get within one shot of the lead. Then came consecutive bogeys, one from a bunker and another from driving into knee-high grass of a hazard, and he disappeared. Kim birdied the last hole with a wedge that spun back by the cup and shot 69.
He was at 203, along with Tim Herron (65) and Cliff Kresge, who bogeyed the last hole for a 69.
The final round will be played in threesomes Sunday morning because of thunderstorms in the forecast, although the leaderboard makes it a perfect day for fireworks.
"There's a bunch of guys on the leaderboard that are four or five shots back that have a great opportunity," Pernice said. "I've got to go out there and perform better and shoot a good score to win a golf tournament. I can't worry about anything else."
Stricker, the runner-up at Congressional a year ago, was among four players who had at least a share of the lead throughout the third round, but he hit a 7-iron over the 17th green and caught the lip with a 12-foot par putt from the fringe.
"Overall, it's two good, solid rounds that got me into a position with a chance for tomorrow," Stricker said.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
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| Saturday's Best |
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The par-5, 585-yard 16th was the easiest with a third-round scoring average of 4.651.
The par-4, 484-yard sixth was the toughest with a third-round scoring average of 4.052.
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Cliff Kresge's chip-in for birdie from the greenside rough at the par-4 15th helped him on his way to a third-round 69. Now at 7 under, he's tied for sixth. 
Vaughn Taylor used Moving Day to climb almost 50 spots up the leaderboard with his bogey-free, 6-under 64. Hunter Mahan also shot a 64, but his bogey on No. 14 lost him the honors.| QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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PLAYERS PREPARE FOR SUNDAY SHOOTOUT AT CONGRESSIONAL
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents
BETHESDA, Md. -- Picture rush hour on the Beltway. That's how crowded the leaderboard at the AT&T National is after three rounds.
A total of 15 players are within five strokes of the lead held by Tom Pernice Jr. And Congressional Country Club, which has hosted three major championships and its 10th PGA TOUR event this week, is being surprisingly generous.
"I think it will be a fun duel tomorrow," said Tim Herron, who starts the final round at 7 under and three strokes behind Pernice. "It's anybody's ballgame. I think there's probably 20, 25 guys with a chance of winning; if not more."
The man at the top of the leaderboard, though, says that's the case nearly every week on the PGA TOUR. And the 48-year-old Pernice, a two-time winner whose last victory came in 2001, has more than 16 years of experience to draw on.
"Very few weeks is there one guy that's running away with the tournament," said Pernice, who seized sole possession of the lead when a spot-on 7-iron at the 17th left him 33 inches for birdie.
"Scores, especially this year, have been bunched quite a bit, and there's a lot of people that have the opportunity to win golf tournaments. Ultimately on Sunday, you have to step up to the plate and get it done."
That's what makes Pernice respect Tiger Woods, the ailing host of this second-year event, so much. The world's No. 1 has played in 222 PGA TOUR events since turning pro in 1996 and won 65 of them, which gives him a winning percentage of 29.27.
"He has the knowledge and I think the trust in himself and he seems to get it done most of the time," Pernice, who shot 69 on Saturday, said. "My hat is off for him to be able to do that."
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
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LOVE SPENDS FOURTH OF JULY WITH HIS BUDDY, THE PRESIDENT
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents
In case you wondered, he didn't take a present. After all, what would you give a president for his birthday?
But Davis Love III was among a dozen or so PGA TOUR players who attended the Fourth of July festivities at the White House as President George W. Bush also celebrated his 62nd two days early.
Love is a long-time friend of the Bush family. He first met the 41st president of the United States about 15 years ago and then got to know the 43rd shortly afterwards. Both Bushes have served as honorary chairmen of the Presidents Cup, too.
| 0 | The number of rounds over 80 in the third round at the par-70 Congressional Country Club. |
| 196 | The number of bogeys made in the third round of the AT&T National. |
| 278 | The number of birdies made in the third round of the AT&T National. |
"It's always an honor to get to go to the White House," Love said. "The whole (Bush) family has been great to the game and to the TOUR. They do so much for all of us. But to get invited to that is so much fun. A couple of years ago, I went to the Christmas party, and you're always blown away that they include you."
Love and Billy Andrade and his wife Jody were seated at the President's table for Friday night's event. Among other players in attendance were Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Lucas Glover, Ben Crane, Jonathan Byrd and Johnson Wagner.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
STRICKER LIVES IT UP FOR ONE NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Steve Stricker says he's a "fish out of water, me and politics," but he'll remember Friday night's visit to the White House for the rest of his life.
"It was great," Stricker said. "Just the opportunity to go there and just to see what goes on in just throwing a party and trying to get into the place. And then once we're in, they pretty much let you walk wherever you wanted to go.
"We went up on the second and third floors to watch the fireworks, their private residence areas, and to look at some of those rooms, I went in the Lincoln bedroom and the Queen's bedroom and to look at the artwork."
Stricker spent part of the night talking golf and plans for the future -- post January -- with Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. There were other memorable conversations, as well.
"The president asked me a lot about the policy and stuff going on around the country," Stricker said, his tongue firmly in cheek.
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THINGS TO WATCH ON SUNDAY
1. Tommy Armour, III. He's tied for third at 8 under after a third-round 66. He tied for second in his last outing -- the Travelers Championship -- after shooting a 65 on Saturday and Sunday, and a couple of weeks before that, he had another top-10 finish at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. Look for this guy to step on the over-40 success train currently being driven by Kenny Perry.
2. Jim Furyk. The 13-time TOUR winner is still looking for his first victory of 2008 after a disappointing (for him) showing at the Buick Open, one of his most successful TOUR stops. Furyk is hanging around the leaderboard, currently tied for 11th at 5 under. It's an unlikley come-from-behind situation, but don't expect him not to try.
3. Hunter Mahan. This young gun has been revving up his season of late with a tie for 18th at the U.S. Open followed by a spectacular title defense at the Travelers Championship, which fell just short when he finished second to Stewart Cink. He's still red hot after a third-round 64 at Congressional, where he's now tied for 11th. Expect Mahan to keep his surge going strong through Sunday.
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