FBR Open: Third-round notebook

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Resumption of Round 2 began this morning at 8 a.m. with the group of Webb Simpson, Jarrod Lyle and amateur Rickie Fowler completing the 17th and 18th holes. Round 3 began at 9:10 a.m. with 71 players going off in threesomes on the first and 10th tees.

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Scott Piercy sent his approach shot soaring toward the green on the second hole Saturday.

Inside the Numbers

54-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Kenny Perry 201 -12 2. Scott Piercy 202 -11 T3. Kevin Na 203 -10 T3. Brian Gay 203 -10 T3. Charley Hoffman 203 -10 T6. Geoff Ogilvy 204 -9 T6. Ted Purdy 204 -9 T6. Jeff Maggert 204 -9 T6. David Toms 204 -9 T6. Ryan Moore 204 -9 T6. James Nitties 204 -9 T6. Matt Kuchar 204 -9

• Seating capacity at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla. for Super Bowl XLIII will be 72,500. Attendance Saturday at the FBR Open was 164,455. Last year, a total of 538,356 fans came through gates at TPC Scottsdale throughout the week.

• Kenny Perry sank a 32-foot, 11-inch putt for birdie on the 18th hole to finish alone atop the leaderboard at 12-under-par 201. He leads Scott Piercy, who is at 11 under, by one stroke. Kevin Na, Brian Gay and Charley Hoffman are tied for third at 10 under par. Perry shot a 5-under-par 66 in Round 3 with six birdies and one bogey.

• Perry is a 12-time winner on the PGA TOUR. Perry has led or held a share of the 54-hole lead 15 times in his career and converted eight times for a victory.

• Piercy struggled down the stretch this afternoon, bogeying three of his final five holes. Piercy is a 2009 PGA TOUR Rookie, earning his card by finishing ninth on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list. He won twice on the Nationwide Tour last year and earned a total of $320,187.

• Troy Matteson's 6-under 29 on the front nine in Saturday's third round is one stroke shy of the tournament record, held by Chris DiMarco who posted a 7-under 28 in the third round in 2003. Matteson is the 14th player in FBR Open history to post a 29 on the front nine at TPC Scottsdale.

• Fowler shot 1-over-par 72 Saturday and is 2 under for the event at tied for 47th. Fowler is playing under a Sponsor's Exemption and is the only amateur in this week's field. The 20-year-old sophomore at Oklahoma State University is making his third career start on the PGA TOUR. He missed the cut at last year's Verizon Heritage and tied for 60th at the U.S. Open Championship.

• Fowler is currently the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world behind only Danny Lee of New Zealand. Fowler was an All-America selection as a freshman, Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, the first-ever freshman to win the Ben Hogan Award and a Walker Cup member last year.

• Ted Purdy and Piercy are both sponsor exemptions this week. The last sponsor exemption to win a PGA TOUR event was Jason Gore at the 2005 84 Lumber Classic. Previously, Phil Mickelson won as a sponsor exemption at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open. Both Gore and Mickelson missed the cut this year at the FBR Open.

• Geoff Ogilvy shot 65 Saturday in his 11th competitive round of the 2009 season. Eight of these 11 rounds have been in the 60s, with lows of 65 Saturday and in the third round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

• Ogilvy and Purdy carded the best rounds of the day at 6-under-par 65. The low rounds of the tournament so far were the 8-under 63s posted by Perry and Nick Watney in Round 2.

• Watney, the leader after Round 2, struggled to 3-over-par 38 on the front nine Saturday with six pars and three bogeys. He got back to 1 over par for the event with a 34 on back nine and is currently tied for 13th.

• The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale was set up at 123 yards for Round 3, the shortest at this event since the PGA TOUR began officially tracking round-by-round hole yardages in 2003.