Buick Open, Round 3

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Tiger Woods shot a 65 Saturday to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the Buick Open.

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Buick Open

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the Buick Open, and we'll be providing updates from Warwick Hills all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.) PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | Live Scoring | PGA TOUR Network | Facebook | Twitter | FanZone

ALONE IN THE LEAD (5:55 p.m.): Michael Letzig heeled and badly hooked a 3-wood on the 13th, but managed to save par. On the 18th hole, he wasn't so lucky. Letzig flubbed one out of the bunker made a double bogey on the par-4 finishing hole. As a result, Letzig stumbled in with a 68 that dropped him out of the lead, which now belongs to Tiger Woods.

We know the history. Tiger Woods doesn't lose when he's in this position and given how he's played the last two days it's hard to imagine he will here.

On top of it, Woods wasn't entirely happy with the way he played, calling his back nine "scratchy," which it was, even by his standards (he hit just five fairways all day). But he got the ball in the hole, as he said. So far, he's gotten it in the hole better than anyone else this week and if he does that for one more round he'll have his third Buick Open victory and fourth of the season. -- Brian Wacker

TIGER IN WITH A 65 (5:35 p.m.): Tiger Woods nearly made another spectacular shot on 18, barely missing holing out from a greenside bunker before rolling in a short par putt to finish with a 65 that has him at 17 under with one round to play.

Michael Letzig still has a couple of holes left in his round, but even if he birdies in, Woods is in perfect position. He's never finished worse than a tie for 11th here and half the time he's either won or finished second.

"Today was a day for scoring," Woods told CBS before heading to the practice range. "Guys were just making birdies everywhere. I was just trying to keep pace." I'd say he kept pace alright. -- Brian Wacker

AUSTIN HAS HIS MEMORIES (5:30 p.m.): One after the other, the golfers bid heart-felt farewells to the Buick Open. Woody Austin joined the list at the 17 th hole, where he acknowledged the galleries on the par 3.

"Just saying thanks," Austin said. "Fifteen years in a row I've been coming here and I remember all the way back to '95 -- winning in '95. I played the first couples of days with Freddie Couples and them chanting 'Freddie, Freddie.' When I came up to that green on 17 on Sunday, with my first chance to win, they were chanting my name, 'Woody, Woody.' And they've been behind me for 15 straight years. I just wanted to tell them thanks."

Austin shot a third-round 65 and is in at 12-under, 204. -- Vartan Kupelian

BOMBS AWAY (5:20 p.m.): Another spectacular birdie for Tiger Woods just got him to 17 under with one hole to play in his round. The 33-foot, 4-inch putt from the front left of the green was yet another highlight-reel moment for Woods, who sent the crowd into an uproar and gave a roar of his own and a fist pump. That's now four birdies in his last six holes. -- Brian Wacker

TIGER UPDATE (5:05 p.m.): Tiger Woods has pretty much made that opening-round 71 a distant memory thanks to a 63 yesterday and thanks to his play today. Woods is 6 under on his round today and within one of the lead after the second of two remarkable birdies. The first came on the par-5 13th, which he played up the fourth fairway before hitting a 7-iron to birdie range and making the putt. On the par-5 16th, Woods finally hit a drive in a spot he couldn't get out of and all he could do was pitch back into the fairway. In typical Woods he fashion, he hit a perfect 5-iron from 225 yards to birdie range again and made the putt. That has him just one back with a few holes left to play. -- Brian Wacker

THIRD ROUND ROLLING ON (4:30 p.m.): Michael Letzig just made his fourth birdie in his last five holes. Tiger Woods poured in his second straight birdie after an all-world effort on No. 13, where he played it up the fourth fairway, jokingly telling CBS' Peter Kostis that he "just wanted the angle." He got the angle alright, playing his third over the bunkers left of the green with a 7-iron before making the 9-foot putt. For all of Tiger's talents, he's also one of the game's great thinkers on the golf course, too.

The next hour should be awfully interesting. Letzig leads by one over Woods with two par-5s and reachable par-4s. Stay tuned. There's still plenty of movement left in moving day. -- Brian Wacker

SENDEN SLIDES DOWN (4:15 p.m.): With nothing but pars since an opening eagle, it was only a matter of time before someone caught and passed John Senden. After a bogey on No. 8, Senden just made his second bogey of the day, at No. 11, where he two-putted from 6 feet. That drops Senden to even par on the day and even par here is like 2 or 3 over most anywhere else. The lead is now held by Michael Letzig all by his lonesome -- for now anyway. -- Brian Wacker

TIED AT THE TOP (4:05 p.m.): Michael Letzig has caught John Senden atop the leaderboard, making his third straight birdie a few minutes ago on No. 10. That's the second time this week Letzig has made three birdies in a row, and he needed it with Tiger Woods having just made his fifth birdie of the day to get to 4 under on his round and 14 under for the week, just one shot back. -- Brian Wacker

SCORING HAS SLOWED (3:45 p.m.): Sure enough, the afternoon wind and firm greens have slowed the pace of scoring at Warwick Hills, where John Senden's lead is down to just one.

Of the afternoon groups, 3 under is the lowest score currently on the course and that belongs to Tiger Woods, who has four birdies and a bogey through 10 holes. At this rate, Matt Bettencourt's early 65 looks like it will hold up pretty well. -- Brian Wacker

BREAKING DOWN BETTENCOURT'S 65 (3:25 p.m.): Matt Bettencourt, who ranked 163rd in driving accuracy, 157th in greens in regulation and 107th in putts per round coming into this week, hit 71 percent of his fairways, 78 percent of his greens in regulation and took just 26 putts today in shooting a 7-under 65. The Buick Open is either a cure for such ills or Bettencourt is in the midst of turning in the kind of performance that got him a tie for fifth at the Memorial earlier this year.

On the day, Bettencourt had just one bogey, compared to eight birdies. It's the second day in a row Bettencourt has had just a single bogey and as a result he moved from 29th at the start of the day to second. Moving day indeed. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Bettencourt's scorecard from today:

DUVAL'S LAST LAP (3:10 p.m.): David Duval wanted to say goodbye to Warwick Hills in style.

Duval played in the Buick Open in 1995 and 1997, missing the cut both times. But he knew he had to return this year.

"I kind of felt like a few weeks ago that it could be the last time Buick is involved here," Duval said. "I think it's rare that you get a situation where you have a tournament for 50-plus years at a site."

Duval said the support of the PGA TOUR by Buick and Warwick Hills over the years has been total and sincere.

"I just felt like just on the off-chance it's the last one I felt like I needed to be here," Duval.

Duval shot 67 Saturday with five straight birdies starting at the 12 th hole. He's at 9-under 207. -- Vartan Kupelian

HANGING ON (3 p.m.): John Senden hasn't been able to break par since an opening-hole eagle here in the second round, but he's still leading by three for the moment with Matt Bettencourt and Tiger Woods tied at 13 under behind him.

There's still a lot of golf to be played, but international players haven't exactly won many trophies here in the last 25 years. Since 1984, the only international player to break into the winner's circle at Warwick Hills has been Vijay Singh (1997, 2004, 2005). The last Australian winner of the Buick Open was Jack Newton in 1978. -- Brian Wacker

HOW LOW IS LOW? (2:50 p.m.): Just how good has scoring been at the Buick Open? Well, aside from all the birdies being made today -- only one player in the top 35 is above par -- the 36-hole cut here was at 4-under 140, matching the lowest cut in tournament history (2005, 2004, 2001 and 1995). It also marks the lowest cut this season. Ten players were at double figures under-par after 36 holes, the most at the Buick Open since 13 players in 2006. -- Brian Wacker

SENDEN OFF TO A STRONG START (2:35 p.m.): This is the third time in John Senden's career that he has had at least a share of the 36-hole lead and while he hasn't converted on any of those yet, he's looking plenty comfortable so far today (maybe, in part, because so many people are following Tiger Woods' group) with an eagle at the par-5 first and a great par save at No. 2.

The weakness for Senden, a great ballstriker as you'll see from the stats below, though, has always been his putting. This week, putting has actually been one of his strong suits with 28 putts per round through two rounds. Today, Senden is right on track with four putts through three holes. -- Brian Wacker

TIGER UPDATE (2:20 p.m.): Tiger Woods got off to a sluggish start with a three-putt par on the par-5 first hole, but today's round is already starting to look a lot like yesterday's for Woods, who has birdied his last three holes to move closer to the lead. There's also just an electric atmosphere in the crowd following Woods. As far as his numbers on the course go, below is a comparison of some key numbers from Woods the first two days and you can see a marked difference. -- Brian Wacker

BETTENCOURT IN CONTENTION (2 p.m.): The last couple of weeks haven't exactly been great for Matt Bettencourt. He missed the cut in Milwaukee then withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open, where he was headed toward a missed cut anyway. But don't let that fool you, Bettencourt's had a big year with three top-11 finishes in five events prior to the U.S. Bank Championship.

Today, Bettencourt is making a run at the lead with six birdies through his first 12 holes to get to 13 under for the week. He'll need to keep up that pace, though, with John Senden making eagle on the first hole and Tiger Woods making back-to-back birdies to get within one of Bettencourt. -- Brian Wacker

SLOW START FOR WOODS (1:42 p.m.): So much for an eagle on the par-5 first, or even a birdie for that matter. After reaching the green in two, Woods three-putted from 55 feet for a disappointing par as he was unable to convert from 6 feet. That's the second time in as many days that Woods has had a three-putt from long distance. In the second round, he three-putted from 62 feet on the par-4 18th hole to close out a back-nine 30. -- Brian Wacker

TIGER (AND STADLER) TEE OFF (1:30 p.m.): Tiger Woods and Kevin Stadler just teed off on the par-5 first hole. Woods has played the hole par-birdie in each of the first two rounds, but judging by his tee shot he may be thinking eagle. Whatever he does, he'll need to go low today to keep pace -- Woods has already fallen eight spots on the leaderboard by virtue of all the early birdies being made. You can follow the Woods-Stadler pairing live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker

LETZIG'S SUCCESS (1:20 p.m.): Michael Letzig is in just his second year on the PGA TOUR and already enjoying success, despite some admitted obstacles with his swing and churning through caddies this season -- he had five top-10s last year compared to just one so far this year. There's no denying his play this week, though. He's hitting more greens and making more putts (see chart below), something he'll need to continue to do with four other guys already even with him today at 12 under. -- Brian Wacker

AFTERNOON WAVE (12:50 p.m.): The wind has started to pick up at Warwick Hills, where the greens aren't expected to roll quite as smoothly as the final groups make their way out in the next hour. That said, scores continue to be low. The key will be how low they will be and for how long.

Right now, Ben Crane, Brett Quigley, John Rollins and Woody Austin are all taking advantage of ideal scoring conditions. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, will tee off in 42 minutes from now, while John Senden and Michael Letzig will go off in an hour from now in the day's final group.

For Senden, one of the best ballstrikers on the PGA TOUR, his two-day total of 14-under 130 is one stroke off his career best first 36-hole total on TOUR (129 at 2005 Valero Texas Open and 2002 Bob Hope Classic).

Letzig, meanwhile, has gotten to this point by, among other things, terrific scrambling -- he's 10 for 10 this week. -- Brian Wacker

PIERCY SHOOTS 64 (12:35 p.m.): Normally an 8-under 64 would go a long way, and it did for Scott Piercy -- for now. Piercy was nearly flawless today with just one bogey and nine birdies, including five over his last seven holes.

It's a good round for sure, and it moved Piercy from a tie for 58th into a tie for second, but given how low scores have been he probably won't be there at the end of the day. It should also be noted that those five birdies in seven holes came on the back nine, which has played nearly a full stroke easier than the front at Warwick Hills.

Others on the move: Ben Crane -- 6 under through his first 13 holes and now in a tie for fourth after starting the day in a tie for 46th -- and Tim Herron -- 3 under through five holes and in a tie for seventh after starting the day in a tie for 29th. Moving day takes on a whole new meaning at the Buick Open. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Piercy's scorecard from today:

TRACKING TIGER (12:15 p.m.): What a difference a day makes, especially at the Buick Open.

At the end of the first round, Tiger Woods was tied for 95th. After yesterday's 63, he was tied for fifth. Today, Woods has already dropped a spot on the leaderboard, despite the fact he doesn't tee off for more than an hour from now. That's because Scott Piercy has rocketed up the leaderboard at 7 under through 17 holes today.

Piercy, who had three top-15s in the first three months of the season but has since tailed off, began the day in a tie for 58th. He's now in a tie for third as he finishes up his round. He probably won't sit that high by the end of the day, but he'll be in contention, much the way Woods is going into today's round.

Back to Woods, this was the largest move up the leaderboard in his professional career, surpassing his performance at the 2001 Barclays, where he went from 118th after Round 1 to 30th after Round 2 (he finished in a tie for 16th). One big reason he scored so well yesterday was his putting. Woods missed four putts between 4 and 8 feet in the first round. In the second round, he missed just one form that distance. -- Brian Wacker

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   1:50 p.m. ET John Senden, Michael Letzig Senden will start the day with a two-stroke headstart on the field, but the low scoring may melt that lead quickly. 1:41 p.m. ET Vaughn Taylor, Bill Lunde Lunde started his second round with a 4-under sprint through five holes. However, he started on the 10th hole yesterday, and will start on No. 1 today. 1:32 p.m. ET Tiger Woods, Kevin Stadler All eyes will be on Tiger shortly after 1:30 p.m. as the golf world will be eager to see if he continues his solid play at Warwick Hills and maybe even climb into the lead.

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