Verizon Heritage: Third-round notebook
By Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR Staff
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Brian Gay shot a 4-under 67 Saturday to increase his one-stroke second-round lead to three strokes entering the final round. Tim Wilkinson's 6-under 65 moved him from a tie for seventh into second and the final pairing.
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• Gay turned his only previous outright third-round lead into a victory at the 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic. He was tied for the lead at the 2004 Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial before a final-round 75 dropped him to a tie for 14th.
• Gay has made the cut in nine of the 10 events he has played this season and could move as high as fifth in the FedExCup standings with a victory this week.
• With a win, Wilkinson would become the first lefty to win the Verizon Heritage. Since 1990 only five different lefthanders have won a PGA TOUR event, including Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Steve Flesch, Eric Axley and Russ Cochran. The top finishes by a lefthander at the Verizon Heritage are Phil Mickelson's third place in 2002 and tie for third in 1998.
• Wilkinson has used only 70 putts through the first three rounds to move into sole possession of second. Wilkinson is on pace to tie or break the PGA TOUR record for fewest putts for four rounds, which is 92 by David Frost at the 2005 Verizon Heritage.
• Wilkinson leads the field this week in driving accuracy (39 of 42, 92.9%), total putts (70) and sand saves (9 of 9).
• The only other time Wilkinson was in a final pairing on TOUR was at the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii, where he played with K.J. Choi. Wilkinson shot a final-round 78 to finish tied for 25th.
• Briny Baird turned in a 6-under 65 Saturday to move to 7 under for the tournament. Baird is looking for his first TOUR victory (286th event) and his first top-5 finish since finishing fourth at THE PLAYERS Championship last year.
• Lee Janzen is looking for his first win since, the1998 U.S. Open. Since that victory, Janzen has made 282 starts, played 885 rounds, played 15,930 holes, made 172 cuts and carded 23 top-10s.
• After Saturday's 6-under 65, Luke Donald now has two rounds in the 60s in 11 career rounds at Harbour Town. Donald recorded a 68 in the second round of the 2003 Verizon Heritage.
• Eight of the last 13 outright third-round leaders have failed to win the Verizon Heritage. Over the last nine years of the Verizon Heritage, the third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win four times.
• So far this season, 12 of 15 (80%) third-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win. Last season, only 22 of 46 (48%) third-round leaders/co-leaders went on to victory, including Boo Weekley at the Verizon Heritage.
• The average age of the 16 winners on the TOUR this season is 35 years old. There have been two winners in their 20s, 11 in their 30s and three in their 40s. Last year, 31% of the 48 winners on TOUR were in their 20s. This season only 13% of the 16 winners have been in their 20s.
• The 54-hole scoring average at the par-71 Harbour Town is 71.534. The daily averages this week are 71.962 on Thursday, 71.785 on Friday and 70.397 on Saturday.
• Steve Lowery took the lead in the Kodak Challenge after he birdied 18 in the second round, one of the toughest holes at Harbour Town Golf Club. This puts Lowery one step closer to the $1 million payout that will be awarded in November. Lowery has played eight of the 18 holes required to qualify for the Kodak Challenge.
• There were four bogey-free rounds Saturday, from Aaron Baddeley, Baird, Gay and Wilkinson. There were four bogey-free rounds on Friday and five on Thursday.
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