The Daily Wrap-up, Round 3: Verizon Heritage

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Brian Gay carries a three-stroke lead into the final round and is hunting for his second PGA TOUR win.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) -- Brian Gay is a round away from his second career victory -- and from validating his place among PGA TOUR winners.

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Round 3 scores
Round 4 tee times
Scorecard: Brian Gay
The Live Report: Round 3
Notebook: Tidbits from the course
Awtrey: Wilkinson focused, ready
Player interviews
Sirius|XM Podcast: Round 3
Photos: Round 3

VIDEO

Round 3 highlights
Weibring's stellar approach

Gay shot a 4-under 67 on Saturday and grabbed a three-stroke lead over Tim Wilkinson through 54 holes in the Verizon Heritage.

The former two-time Southeastern Conference champion at Florida already owns a TOUR title, but it was at the 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun in Mexico, when many of the world's top players were playing in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

In all, 2008 was a career-making year for Gay: He won a personal best of more than $2.2 million, made 20 cuts and had 12 top-25 finishes.

• To read the remainder of this story, click here.

WILKINSON HOPES TO MAKE HARBOUR TOWN HISTORY
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Contributor

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Tim Wilkinson grew up playing golf in blustery conditions. He learned to handle the breezes back home in Palmerstown North, New Zealand, where the gusts are strong and steady enough to help make wind farming a staple of the local industry.

Beating balls in the breeze helped him hone the ability to hit the lower, wind-tolerant shots, which he's used all week to join the contenders at the Verizon Heritage. And though the wind back home doesn't swirl like the breezes off Hilton Head's Calibogue Sound, Wilkinson seems ready to weather whatever conditions blow through for the final round.

"I grew up playing in the wind," Wilkinson said.

On Sunday afternoon, he'll learn whether he can handle the pressure of being in the final group as well as the breeze. After shooting a 6-under 65 on Saturday at Harbour Town, leaving him at 10-under 203, Wilkinson will have 18 holes to catch leader Brian Gay, who shot 67 and leads by three strokes.

Wilkinson got a sample of life as a leader in 2008 when he was paired with K.J. Choi in the final round at the Sony Open. Choi closed with a 71 and won the tournament, Wilkinson shot a 78 and tied for 25th.

• To read the remainder of this story, click here.

Top 5 notables at Verizon Heritage

Name Score Position Comment Sunday tee time Lee Janzen 9 under 3 He hasn't won since the 1998 U.S. Open, but this two-time major champion is in position to capture his ninth TOUR title. 1:41 p.m. Davis Love III 7 under T5 Love, a five-time winner at Harbour Town, fired a 69 on Saturday and remains near the leaders. 1:32 p.m. Tom Lehman 6 under T7 He nearly won the Transitions Championship in March, and could pick up a TOUR win before his first Champions Tour event next week. 1:23 p.m. Luke Donald 5 under T10 Donald's 6-under 65 propelled him from T48 into the top 10 on Saturday, but he'll need to go low again to win his third TOUR title. 1:14 p.m. Aaron Baddeley 3 under T18 The 2006 Verizon Heritage winner, Badds followed Thursday's 75 with two rounds in the 60s to move up the ranks. 12:29 p.m.

Saturday's Best

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The 502-yard par-5 second hole was easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.282. EAGLES: 1 BIRDIES: 54 PARS: 23 BOGEYS: 0 OTHERS: 0 The 192-yard par-3 14th was toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 3.244. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 6 PARS: 54 BOGEYS: 11 OTHERS: 7

SHOT OF THE DAY ROUND OF THE DAY On the famous finishing hole, Matt Weibring nearly made eagle when he knocked his second shot to three inches from the pin. Watch his shot Three players notched 6-under 65s on Saturday, but the nod goes to Tim Wilkinson, who had a bogey-free round to move into second place. Check out his scorecard

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'm still trying to get a groove going. I don't think I'm too far away. So hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better about my swing and I can go out with a little bigger bravado and go for it." -- Two-time major champion Lee Janzen on his chances on Sunday. Transcripts: Brian Gay Briny Baird Lee Janzen More

INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.

Teeing off in just the second group, young Spencer Levin fired a 66 and told me after the round that, if the conditions remained calm, there could be a Saturday shootout. He even predicted that someone could go as low as 62 or 63. The breezes picked up a little after he said that, but were still calmer than they'd been all week, yet nobody got lower than 65 later in the day. Opportunities lost? Levin thought so.

Justin Leonard, the 2002 Verizon Heritage champion, birdied his first three holes but could only push it one shot lower and felt that his "moving day" 67 wouldn't be nearly enough to make a run at the top of the leaderboard. He also lamented lost opportunities and mistakes made. Brian Gay's made one bogey all week, while Justin Leonard made three on Saturday alone, and mistakes, more than birdies, could tell the tale this week.

Lee Janzen's comeback from the golf wilderness could be written this week, and if it is, it'll be because he finally quit letting small mistakes become disasters. After bogeying the first, he put it behind him and hit one of the great 3-irons of his life, out of a divot, to set up an eagle at the second. Then, after bogeys at 7 and 8, he hit a ball in the water at the 10th, but promised he wouldn't turn it into a disaster and ended up holing a putt from off the green to save par and keep his round alive.

THIRD-ROUND NOTEBOOK: VERIZON HERITAGE
By Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR Staff

• 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.

• 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.

• To read the remainder of this story, click here.

Live Essentials

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KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Verizon Heritage.

The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 411-yard par-4 18th.

Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.

• For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.