Notebook: the Memorial Tournament, Round 3

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Rookie Matt Bettencourt is tied for the lead after 54 holes for the first time in his PGA TOUR career.

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Matt Bettencourt, the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list leader, climbed the leaderboard with a 4-under 68 in the third round to move into a share of the lead with Mark Wilson at 9-under 207.

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Round 3 scores
Round 4 tee times
The Live Report: Round 3
Scorecard: Bettencourt
Scorecard: Wilson
Ross: Ogilvy's very different days

• Bettencourt played his first PGA TOUR event this year and has eight made cuts in 17 events. His best finish is a T22 at the Quail Hollow Championship.

• Bettencourt did not seem fazed by the fact that among the current top-15 players at the Memorial are the likes of Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Geoff Ogilvy. Combined, they account for 126 TOUR wins and 2,052 career events.

• Bettencourt earned his first TOUR 54-hole lead on Saturday. His previous best position after 54-holes was T37 at the Quail Hollow Championship, where he fired a final-round 69 to finish a career-best T22.

• Trying to avoid a 36-hole U.S. Open Qualifier on Monday in Columbus, Wilson shot a 3-under 69 to grab a share of the lead. Wilson picked up his second career win earlier this year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun.

• Wilson has won both of his career 54-hole leads. He was tied for first entering the final round earlier this year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and was the outright 54-hole leader at the 2007 Honda Classic.

• Ogilvy moved from a T57 after the second-round into T5 after a third-round 9-under 63. Ogilvy drained a 34-feet, 10-inch bunker shot on No. 18 to finish off his round.

• Ogilvy's 63 is the best third-round score in tournament history and ties Kenny Perry's final-round in 2007 for the second-best overall round in tournament history. John Huston's 61 in the second round in 1996 is the best round in tournament history. Ironically, Huston finished fifth in 1996 and Perry finished T3 in 2007.

• Ogilvy's 63 tied the second-best round of his PGA TOUR career. His other 63 came at the 2004 Bob Hope Classic (T20), while his best round of 62 came at the 2007 TOUR Championship (T17).

• Before today's 63, Ogilvy's best round of the season was a 65 in the third-round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship (1st) and the third-round of the FBR Open (T17).

• Out of Love's 20 career TOUR wins, he has trailed after 54-holes 10 times and was tied for the lead twice. Love's most recent comeback was last year at the Children's Miracle Network Classic when he was two strokes back.

• Jonathan Byrd, who made just his second cut in seven tries at the Memorial, is tied for third with Furyk at 8-under 208.

• Furyk is looking for his sixth top-10 finish in 12 starts this season on the PGA TOUR. His best finish this season is third at the WGC-CA Championship.

• Woods shot a 4-under 68 in the third round to move into T7. Woods enters the final-round four strokes off the lead. Woods has come-from-behind to win in 19 of 63 career stroke-play events. He has two 5-stroke comebacks, two 4-stroke comebacks and one 3-stroke comeback. His last come-from-behind win came this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (5 strokes).

• Bettencourt is T71 in fairways hit (26/42), while Wilson is T22 (33/42). Furyk is tied with Hunter Mahan in fairways hit (37/42). Wilson leads the field in putts per round at 25.00. Bettencourt is T10 in greens in regulation.

• A total of 61 players in the Memorial Tournament field are scheduled to stay over on Monday to participate in the 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier at Brookside Golf & Country Club in Columbus. Mark Wilson and Davis Love III could bypass the qualifier, though, if they were to win the Memorial. Multiple TOUR winners from June 2, 2008 through the end of next week's St. Jude Classic are fully exempt -- and Wilson won the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun in March and Love III won the Children's Miracle Network Classic in November. It will be a quick turnaround for 34 of the players entered in the Monday qualifier since they are also committed to play in the St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind next week. All but 12 of those made the cut at the Memorial, too, so if they complete the qualifier they will have played six competitive rounds in five days.