Third-round notes: THE TOUR Championship

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ATLANTA -- Kenny Perry posted a 6-under 64 on Saturday to take the third-round lead at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, the final event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He leads by two strokes over Tiger Woods (69) and four over Phil Mickelson (66) and Sean O'Hair (70).

• Perry has won 10 of 18 times when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead or 72-hole lead in a 90-hole event on the PGA TOUR, including seven out of his last nine.

• Perry, currently No. 9 on the FedExCup points list, is making his 10th start at THE TOUR Championship, with a fourth-place finish in 1996 his best outing among three top-10 finishes (none of which occurred at East Lake GC).

• Perry was named the 2009 Payne Stewart Award recipient earlier this week. Celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2009, the Payne Stewart Award is presented annually to a player sharing Stewart's respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game's heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct.

• Tiger Woods is seeking his 72nd PGA TOUR victory, which would place him just one behind Jack Nicklaus on the all-time wins list and 10 behind leader Sam Snead. Woods is making his 12th start at THE TOUR Championship, with victories in 1999 and 2007 and runner-up finishes in 2000, 2004 and 2005.

• Despite a 1-over 71 on Saturday, Harrington still appears poised to record his sixth consecutive top-10 finish. His streak began at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (T2), where he entered the event No. 142 in the standings.

• Woods and Harrington went head-to-head in the same group for the ninth time this season on Saturday. Woods has now outperformed Harrington in eight of these match ups.

• Phil Mickelson's 4-under 66 propelled him into a tie for third. Lefty is making his 13th start at THE TOUR Championship and is seeking his fourth top-10 at the event (2000-won, 2002-T5, 2008-T3). A win on Sunday would make him just the second multiple winner at THE TOUR Championship (Tiger Woods: 1999, 2007).

• Steve Stricker also posted a 4-under 66 on Saturday to jump into a tie for seventh on the leaderboard, six strokes behind Kenny Perry. It was his TOUR-leading 30th round in the 60s in PGA TOUR Playoff events. Stricker and Jim Furyk (71) have now played in all 47 rounds of the PGA TOUR Playoffs, dating to the competition's inaugural start in 2007.

• The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 22 of 39 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2009, most recently by Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship. In the 22-year history of THE TOUR Championship, the third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the tournament 14 times, with the last to do so being Tiger Woods in 2007. The largest come-from-behind victory at the event was five strokes by Camilo Villegas in 2008.

• A pair of Presidents Cup International teammates made a lot of noise in the first pairing of the day on Saturday. Geoff Ogilvy equaled the round of the week (Perry, Round 3) with a 6-under 64, while PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang posted a 4-under 66. Both players sit at 2 over through 54 holes and are tied for 17th.

• Players who were ranked fifth or higher in the FedExCup standings coming into the week are assured of winning the 2009 FedExCup with a win this week. The list includes No.1 Tiger Woods (second, currently projected first in the FedExCup standings), followed by No. 2 Steve Stricker (T7, currently projected third), No. 3 Jim Furyk (T15, projected fourth), No. 4 Zach Johnson (T24, projected sixth) and No. 5 Heath Slocum (T17, projected eighth).

• Ten players are making their TOUR Championship debuts this week: Steve Marino (T5), John Senden (T9), Angel Cabrera (T9), Nick Watney (T13), Y.E. Yang (T17), Jason Dufner (T17), Marc Leishman (T22), Dustin Johnson (T26), Kevin Na (28) and Brian Gay (30).

• Past champions of THE TOUR Championship and their current standings: 1999 and 2007 winner Tiger Woods (72-66-64 -- 2nd), 2000 champion Phil Mickelson (73-67-66 -- T3), 2001 winner Mike Weir (72-72-70 -- T22) and 2004 champion Retief Goosen (69-72-72 -- 21st).

• A pair of Aussies posted the first bogey-free rounds of the week at East Lake on Saturday: Geoff Ogilvy (64) and John Senden (69)