Bridgestone Invitational: Third-round notebook

By Chris Reimer, PGA TOUR Staff

AKRON, Ohio -- Lee Westwood, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson are tied for the lead at 8 under par heading into the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. In the 10-year history of this event, this is the most players tied for the lead heading into the final round. Twice previously, there was a two-way tie after 54 holes (2005-Kenny Perry & Tiger Woods 7 under; 2002- Robert Allenby & Craig Parry at 10 under).

Lee Westwood is one round away from his second victory in America. (Franklin/Getty Images)

Inside the Numbers

First-Timers thru 54 Holes

Player Score Standing Mark Brown +21 80 Daniel Chopra -3 T11 Richard Finch +4 T54 Ross Fisher +2 T38 Hidemasa Hoshino +3 T48 Brendan Jones +1 T33 Martin Kaymer +9 T75 Anthony Kim +3 T48 James Kingston +6 T64 Pablo Larrazabal +8 T73 Prayad Marksaeng +6 T64 Chez Reavie +2 T38 Brandt Snedeker +3 T48 Scott Strange +5 T59 D.J. Trahan -4 T6 Johnson Wagner +9 T75 Steve Webster +2 T38 Oliver Wilson +2 T38

• Lee Westwood has 25 international victories, but only one win on the PGA TOUR -- the 1998 Freeport-McDermott Classic, which will be 10 years, 3 months, 29 days ago on Sunday. That also marked the only lead Westwood has had heading into the final round of a PGA TOUR event.

• A win Sunday would make Westwood the fourth European Tour member to win a World Golf Championships event, following Darren Clarke at the 2000 Accenture Match Play Championship and 2003 Bridgestone Invitational; Ernie Els at the 2004 CA Championship; and Henrik Stenson at the 2007 Accenture Match Play Championship.

• Westwood, who is fifth in the European Tour Order of Merit, missed out on the 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open earlier this year by one shot and finished third. He was in the final group with Tiger Woods on Sunday. On the European Tour this year, Westwood has eight top-10 finishes in 14 events (he finished tied for second in the first two events of the season).

• Westwood's 65 on Friday was his lowest round on the PGA TOUR since the opening round of the 2005 PLAYERS Championship. He has had one top-10 finish in nine starts at the Bridgestone Invitational, a tie for ninth in 2004.

• For the tournament, Westwood ranks in the top 10 in Fairways hit (tied for sixth -- 30 of 42), Greens in regulation (tied for 10th -- 37 of 54) and Putts per round (tied for seventh -- 27.3) He hit 12 of 14 fairways on Saturday.

• Vijay Singh has held or shared a 54-hole lead 30 previous times in his career and has gone on to win 17 of those events (56.6 percent). The last time he has won after holding a 54-hole lead was the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Championship.

• Singh was also the 36-hole leader. Of the last 10 times he has either held or shared the 36-hole lead at a PGA TOUR event he has gone on to win seven times. The times he hasn't were earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where he tied for third, last year's Wachovia Championship, where he tied for seventh, and when he tied for fifth at the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Championship. His seven victories after a 36-hole lead have come in the 2007 Mercedes Benz Championship, 2006 Barclays Classic, 2005 Buick Open, 2004 84 LUMBER Classic, 2004 Deutsche Bank Championship, 2004 PGA Championship and 2004 Buick Open.

• Singh has now held/shared three leads in World Golf Championships during his career: first round of the 1999 CA Championship (American Express Championship), where he eventually finished tied for 16th; first round of the 2005 Bridgestone Invitational (NEC Invitational), where he eventually finished tied for third; third round of the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational; and fourth round of the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational.

• His best finish at the Bridgestone Invitational came in 2005, when he tied for third.

• He was the third-round leader at the 1995 NEC World Series of Golf here at Firestone Country Club, before it became a World Golf Championships event, but shot 74 (+4) and finished tied for fourth.

• Singh is looking for his first win of the season and first World Golf Championships victory. His last win, of 31 PGA TOUR victories, came at the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

• Singh has won at least one event in 12 different PGA TOUR seasons, and the latest into those seasons he has waited to claim victory was in 1998, when he won the PGA Championship on Aug. 16 for his first win of the year. He has won at least one event in the last six seasons (2002-2007).

• Singh is looking to become the oldest player -- and first in his 40s -- to win a World Golf Championships event. Singh will be 45 years, 5 months, 12 days on Sunday. The oldest winner of a World Golf Championships event is David Toms, who won the 2005 Accenture Match Play Championship at 38 years, 1 month, 23 days.

• Three times in his career, Singh has won a tournament the week prior to a major championship. In 1993 he won the Buick Classic, then missed the cut at the U.S. Open; in 1997 he won the Buick Open, then tied for 13th at the PGA Championship; and in 2006 he won the Barclays Classic, then tied for sixth at the U.S. Open. In 2004, Singh won the Buick Classic, took a week off, and then won the PGA Championship.

• Phil Mickelson has held or shared the 54-hole lead (or 72-hole lead in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic) 27 previous times in his career and has gone on to win 20 of those events (74.07 percent). Both of his wins this year have come when he was leading after 54-holes. Mickelson's final-round scoring average as the 54-hole/72-hole leader is 69.520.

• Mickelson's best finish at a World Golf Championships event was a runner-up here when it was played for the first time in 1999. Mickelson did win at Firestone Country Club in 1996 when the event was the NEC World Series of Golf, before it became a World Golf Championships event.

• With his second victory of the 2008 season at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Mickelson became the only player to record multiple wins in each of the past five seasons.

• Mickelson and Singh have been paired together in the final round of a PGA TOUR event two times, but never in the final group. They will not be paired together in Sunday's final round as Westwood and Singh will be in the final pairing of the day.

• Stuart Appleby shot a 3-under-par 67 to move from a tie for 34th after the second round to fourth and is one stroke off the lead. Appleby's opening round was a tale of two 9s. Teeing off on the 10th hole, he began the tournament with bogeys on five of his first seven holes, making the turn at 5 over par. The 37-year-old Australian countered with five birdies and four pars on the back nine to finish the first round at even par. In his last 27 holes, Appleby has 11 birdies and two bogeys.

• Appleby is participating in his 29th career World Golf Championships event this week, having competed in every World Golf Championships event since the inception of the series in 1999 (the only player to do so). His best finish in a World Golf Championships event is a tie for second in the 2003 CA Championship.

• Appleby started out the 2008 PGA TOUR season with five consecutive top-10 finishes, but hasn't recorded one since. He has made seven consecutive cuts and has made it to the weekend in 15 of 17 events this year.

• Darren Clarke, Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger Woods are the only players with multiple World Golf Championship victories. Clarke, who is no longer a member of the PGA TOUR following the 2007 season, and is playing in his first PGA TOUR event since the 2007 PGA Championship. He won the Bridgestone Invitational in 2003 and the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2000.

• His 65 (-5) on Saturday matches his lowest round at the Bridgestone Invitational (first round of the 2003 event, which he won). This Clarke's first round in the 60s at this event since the final round of the 2005 Bridgestone Invitational.

• Miguel Angel Jimenez is a 15-time international tournament winner, yet has not won on the PGA TOUR. His best finish to date is second at the 1999 American Express Championship (CA Championship), where he led heading into the final round, shot 69 and then lost on the first playoff hole to Tiger Woods. Jimenez also finished tied for second at the 2000 U.S. Open.

• Chris DiMarco has carded rounds of 68-70-68 this week and is currently tied for sixth. This marks his best position after 54 holes this season; he was tied for eighth at the Travelers Championship after three rounds, where he shot 70 on Sunday and finished tied for 13th.

• DiMarco has yet to finish in the top-10 this season, but the Bridgestone Invitational has always been good to him. In six attempts at this event, DiMarco has recorded four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish in 2005 and a tie for fourth last year. His tie for fourth in 2007 at Firestone Country Club was his only top-10 finish of the 2007 season.

• Of the 80 players in the field, five have competed in all 10 Bridgestone Invitational events, and four are currently in the top 10: Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, Stuart Appleby and Darren Clark. (Padraig Harrington is the other and he is tied for 38th at +2 for the tournament.)

• In the nine-year history of this event, a player who entered the final round outside of the lead has come back to win three times: Tiger Woods in 2001, 2006 and 2007. In 2001, he entered the final 18 holes two behind Jim Furyk before prevailing in a seven-hole playoff. In 2006, he was one-stroke back of Stewart Cink after 54-holes before defeating Cink in a four-hole playoff. In 2008, he trailed Rory Sabbatini by one stroke through 54 holes and fired a closing 5-under 65 to win by eight strokes over Justin Rose and Sabbatini.

• After the third round, there are seven countries represented in the top 10: England (Lee Westwood); Fiji (Vijay Singh); United States (Phil Mickelson, D.J. Trahan, Chris DiMarco); Australia (Stuart Appleby); Spain (Miguel A. Jimenez); Northern Ireland (Darren Clarke); and South Africa (Retief Goosen).

• Chad Campbell and Trevor Immelman had the only bogey-free rounds on Saturday. Campbell birdied No. 3 and 12 to shoot 68 (-2) and is currently at 207 (-3) for the event and tied for 11th. Immelman birdied No. 10 and 14 to shoot 68 (-2) and is also at 207 (-3) and tied for 11th.

• Robert Karlsson had the only bogey-free round on Friday with a 67 (-3). Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk were bogey-free on Thursday, all at 68 (-2).

• There are 18 players playing in the field for the first time and only one is currently under par and in the top 10 (D.J. Trahan). Last year, Andres Romero was the only Bridgestone Invitational "rookie" to finish in the top 10 last year (tied for sixth).