Buick Invitational: Third-round notebook

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SAN DIEGO -- Because more than 78 players made the 36-hole cut of 2 over, a secondary cut was made following Saturday's third round, which came at 5 over with 71 players advancing to the final round. This marks the second straight year that 85 players have made the first cut. The last time fewer than 80 players made the cut at the Buick Invitational was in 2003 (75 players).

• For the first time this year, preferred lies were implemented for Saturday's third round. Tee markers were also moved up on holes 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13 and 18.

• John Rollins has won twice on the PGA TOUR, first at the 2002 Bell Canadian Open then at the 2006 B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone Resort. He has taken the 54-hole lead into the final round three times on TOUR, twice in 2003 (Buick Classic, FUNAI Classic-Disney) and once in 2005 (Deutsche Bank Championship). His finishes in those events were a playoff loss to Jonathan Kaye at the 2003 Buick Classic, a tie for fifth at the 2003 FUNAI Classic-Disney and a tie for 15th at the 2005 Deutsche Bank Championship.

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Charley Hoffman lost a tee shot in a tree on the first hole Saturday.

Inside the numbers

54-hole leaderboard

Player Score 1. John Rollins -12 2. Camilo Villegas -9 3. Nick Watney -7 T4. Luke Donald -6 T4. Paul Goydos -6 T6. Charles Warren -5 T6. Lucas Glover -5 T6. Charley Hoffman -5 T9. Aaron Baddeley -4 T9. J.J. Henry -4 T9. George McNeill -4 T9. Mathew Goggin -4

• Rollins' three-stroke lead after 54 holes is nowhere near Tiger Woods' eight-stroke lead heading into last year's final round at the Buick Invitational, the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history. The good news for Rollins is the 54-hole leaders in each of the first four PGA TOUR events this season have won.

• Rollins has mixed results in early season tournaments before the Buick Invitational. Apart from a playoff loss to Charley Hoffman at the 2007 Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, Rollins has not recorded a top-10 in any tournament preceding the Buick Invitational this decade. Rollins played the Nationwide Tour in 2001, earning six top-10 finishes, including a win at the Hershey Open, finishing sixth on the money list that year.

• Although Camilo Villegas shot 66 in the third round at the season opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, Saturday's third-round 2-over 74 does not bode well for his third-round scoring average for the remainder of the season. Villegas has played 62 times in the third round in 90 career starts and has shot higher than 2-over par 13 times.

• Nick Watney, currently second in Driving Distance this year averaging 316.2 yards, was the only player with a pair of rounds in the 60s through the first two rounds. Watney shot 69-69 before a third-round, 1-under 71.

• Australians have quite the presence among the torrey pines and lemon-scented eucalyptus trees at the Buick Invitational. Mathew Goggin and Aaron Baddeley lead the "Down Under" crew at 4-under par and in a tie for ninth place, with Marc Leishman, Nathan Green, Jarrod Lyle and Jason Day also inside the top 20 after the third round. Not only did 12 of the 15 Australian players make the cut and advance to the weekend, they did so in the company of a true Australian tennis legend, Rod Laver, who was on site as a spectator. "Rocket Rod", now 70 years old, was the world's No. 1 tennis player for seven consecutive years from 1964-70. Laver is the only player to have twice won all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year (1962 & 1969) and is the only male player during the open era to have won a calendar year Grand Slam.

• Englishman Luke Donald moved into contention with his third consecutive sub-par round (70-69-71 210) and lies tied for fourth. Donald was runner up here in 2004 and 2005 and probably feels like Torrey Pines owes him something. It was here during the 2008 U.S. Open that Donald injured his wrist when he hit his tee on No. 15 in the final round, heard his wrist pop and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. The injury ended his 2008 season. Donald has recorded top-25 finishes at the two tournaments he has played this year, the Sony Open in Hawaii (tie for 23rd) and the FBR Open (tie for 25th).

• Paul Goydos (72-66-72 210) returned to the PGA TOUR this week after a leave of absence when his ex-wife, Wendy, passed away January 17. Goydos, unsure of his schedule, told his caddie, Scott Sajinac, to find another job. Sajinac committed to Daniel Chopra for the West Coast Swing, so Goydos has Brian Reed looping for him this week and next week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Chopra tied for 27th at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and has missed the cut in his other three starts this year. Sajinac will return to Goydos' bag after Pebble Beach. Goydos heads into the final round tied for fourth at 6 under.

• Charley Hoffman (71-66-74 211), who grew up in Poway, just north of San Diego, shocked the local fans with an unfortunate start to the third round when he lost his ball up a tree after his opening hole tee shot. Hoffman, who started the day at 7 under, four strokes behind leader Camilo Villegas, incurred a one-stroke penalty and recorded a triple-bogey seven. He went on to birdie the third hole and eagled the par-5 seventh, eventually finishing at 5 under, tied for sixth.

• Fellow Clemson Tigers, Lucas Glover and Charles Warren made good moves up the leaderboard during Saturday's so-called "moving day." Warren shot 4-under 68 to jump from a tie for 32nd to a tie for sixth while Glover fired a 3-under 69 and advanced from a tie for 17th to a tie for sixth also.

• While all 25 graduates from the 2008 Nationwide Tour teed off in the Buick Invitational, 12 advanced to the weekend after the 36-hole cut.

• The season-long Kodak Challenge, where players must play at least 18 of the 30 Kodak Challenge holes throughout the season to be eligible for the $1 million prize, includes the 435 yard, par-4, 14th hole at Torrey Pines South course. Dustin Johnson is the current season leader through the third round of the Buick Invitational -- the fourth hole of the Kodak Challenge competition. The player with the lowest cumulative score relative to par wins.

• There were no bogey-free rounds in the third round.

• After utilizing both the North and the South Courses at Torrey Pines through the first two rounds, only the South Course was in play during the third round. The third-round scoring average was 74.059, bringing the cumulative average for the week at the South Course to 74.496.