The Live Report, Round 3: Transitions Championship

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Tom Lehman is looking for his first win since the 2000 FBR Open.

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Transitions Championship

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report is on the scene at the Transitions Championship and we'll provide updates 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

ROUND 3 IN THE BOOKS (6:10 p.m.) -- A bogey from Steve Stricker at the 18th left him in a tie for seventh at the close of the third round, while a par from Nick Watney helped put a positive spin on the end of what was a very difficult day for the Buick Invitational champion. Watney will begin the final round tied for 15th, five shots off Tom Lehman's lead.

WATNEY'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE (5:55 p.m.) -- With a missed 14 foot par putt on the 17th hole, Watney recorded his fourth bogey of the day and fell further down the leaderboard. He has just the par-4 18th left to try to improve his position before Sunday's final round.

GOOSE IN AT 7 UNDER (5:50 p.m.) -- With a par on the 18th hole, Retief Goosen claimed one of the few under-par rounds on moving day and likely secured a spot in Sunday's final group alongside Tom Lehman.

GETTING BETTER AS THE DAY WRAPS UP (5:35 p.m.) -- Steve Stricker just sank a 35-foot putt at the 16th to get back to 1 over for the day and remain in contention heading to the final round. Meanwhile, over on No. 18, Charles Howell III executed a beautiful shot out of the bunker to within four feet of the pin, setting him up for a birdie at the last.

CLUBHOUSE LEADER (5:25 p.m.) -- Tom Lehman parred the 18th to close out his round at 3 under -- 8 under to par -- and take the clubhouse lead.

Retief Goosen is just one shot back, though, and still out on the course.

CHECK THAT (4:53 p.m.) -- Make it four birdies in a row for Tom Lehman, who is doing a great job at Copperhead today. Lehman just birdied the par-3 15th hole and now has sole-possession of the lead as the third round is winding down.

NICE PUTT (4:45 p.m.) -- Tom Lehman has just joined Retief Goosen at the top of the leaderboard after holing a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 14. The birdie was the third in a row for Lehman.

Lehman is looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR since the 2000 FBR Open.

LEADERBOARD UPDATE (4:35 p.m.) -- Retief Goosen is still leading the way as the leaders are well into the back nine of this third round.

At 7 under, Goosen is one shot ahead of Jonathan Byrd and Tom Lehman. Trevor Immelman, Rich Beem, Stuart Appleby, Joe Ogilvie, Nick Watney and Troy Matteson are all two shots behind at 5 under.

A sip of Maginnes

MOVIN' OUT (4:30 p.m.): Mamma Leone left a note on the door said, "sonny move out to the country." Moving out has been the theme here at the Copperhead Course this week. Jim Furyk moved into the lead after the first round with an opening round 65 but moved out quickly with a second round 78. For moments on Friday afternoon it looked as if Jim might actually go from the lead to having the weekend off. Second-round leaders Steve Stricker and Nick Watney are moving out as well. Through 10 holes they are 3 over and 2 over respectively. Two players with burrs in their saddles placed there by that left-handed fellow were trying to bounce back and win the tournament. Ordinarily a leader who notches a couple of bogeys on Saturday gets lapped. The good news for these guys is that they still have plenty of time to launch a come back. The lead has barely moved... but the names have certainly changed. -- John Maginnes

ROUNDS OF THE DAY (4:05 p.m.) -- As noted several times today, low scores aren't easy to come by at the Copperhead Course.

David Toms just tapped in for a par at the last hole to lock up a round of 3-under 68. That ties Toms for round of the day honors so far with Charlie Wi and Brett Quigley. All three players are currently in a tie for seventh.

DROPPED SHOT (4 p.m.) -- After some tree trouble at No. 10 and a near chip-in for par, Retief Goosen ended his bogey-free streak at nine holes today, taking a bogey to drop back to 6 under.

Despite the bogey, which Goosen made on a 5-footer, he extended his streak to 35 consecutive putts made inside of five feet this week. He's currently tied for third in putts per round.

Goosen is now tied for the lead with fellow South African Trevor Immelman at 6 under.

GOOSE IS LOOSE (3:37 p.m.) -- Retief Goosen is 2 under on the front nine today and has just taken sole possession of the lead at 7 under.

Here's a look at his front nine:

BEEM ME UP (3:22 p.m.) -- Trevor Immelman and Rich Beem have just joined the leaders at 6 under with birdies at the par-4 10th hole.

The way the leaderboard looks now is what you'd expect for one of the TOUR's most difficult courses: Beem (a PGA champ), Immelman (a Masters champ), Goosen (a two-time U.S. Open champ) and Matteson are all tied at six under, one shot clear of the field.

DOUBLE TROUBLE (3:20 p.m.) -- With a double bogey at No. 6, Nick Watney has dropped back to 5 under. He's now one shot behind co-leaders Retief Goosen and Troy Matteson.

Trouble is easy to find at Copperhead and it can happen fast just like in Watney's case.

MORE MATTESON (3:15 p.m.) -- After tying Watney for the lead at 7 under with that tap-in birdie at No. 5, Matteson gave the shot right back with a bogey at No. 6.

Watney, on the other hand, is in trouble at No. 6. Stay tuned.

MATTESON JOINS THE FRAY (3:05 p.m.) -- With a tap-in birdie at the par-5 fifth hole moments ago, Troy Matteson has tied Nick Watney for the lead at 7 under.

Matteson, winner of the 2006 Frys.com Open, also had a birdie at No. 2.

Matteson's best finish so far this season was a tie for 23rd at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which was his first start.

WATNEY AT THE TOP... FOR NOW (2:48 p.m.) -- Nick Watney's play to start the 2009 season has been nothing short of remarkable. The 26-year-old already has a win -- at the Buick Invitational -- and a runner-up finish just last week at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship to his credit.

Watney

All that, plus three other top-25 finishes. The scray part about Watney's play is that he's doing it on all types of courses. When it's a birdiefest like it was at Doral, he goes low. When scores right around par are required like this week at Innisbrook, he's getting it done there too.

The key to Watney's success this season has been without question the putter. He ranks eighth on TOUR in putts per round this season compared to 154th in 2008.

With a birdie on the first hole this afternoon followed by three straight pars, Watney sits at the top of the leaderboard with a one-shot advantage at 7 under.

Take a look at his stats thus far in the new season:

THE LEADERS ARE OFF (2:10 p.m.) -- Steve Stricker and Nick Watney -- 36-hole co-leaders -- teed off in the final pairing moments ago at the Transitions Championship. What they've already found out is that they have company at the top.

Green

Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and Tom Lehman are all tied at the top with Stricker and Watney at 6-under par.

Based on the early scores, par is certainly your friend out there today. The best score posted so far has been a 2-under 69, achieved by Woody Austin and John Huston.

On the other end of the spectrum, Nathan Green -- who had a 3-under 68 in the first round -- carded a 12-over 83 today.

Check out Green's card below:

NICE TO SEE YOU, TOM (1:55 p.m.) -- In case you hadn't noticed, Tom Lehman is having a fine week at the Transitions Championship.

The 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team captain had made just one cut in five starts prior to this week and that resulted in a tie for 49th in Mexico.

This week has been a different story for the 1996 British Open champion. With a birdie on his first hole this afternoon, Lehman has joined a logjam at the top of the leaderboard.

A sip of Maginnes

EXPERIENCE MATTERS (1:50 p.m.): According to a UPI report last week printed in at least one paper, human brain power peaks at 22 and begins to dwindle at the age of 27. In other words, you only have five really good years. To make matters worse, your memory starts to fail at the age of 37 according to the report. Maybe that is so you can't remember how smart you used to be. I am glad that I read the rest of the article because it said that abilities based on accumulated knowledge could potentially increase until the age of 60. So when we say that the Copperhead Course favors the experienced player we actually have scientific data to back it up. Every player on the top of the leaderboard has won on the PGA TOUR. You have to go all the way down to Quigley, three shots back and tied for 14th, to find a non-winner and he nearly changed that a couple of weeks ago in Puerto Rico where he finished second. With all due respect to George Bernard Shaw youth may be wasted on the young but experience matters. At least I think it does, I can't remember. -- John Maginnes

A 75 FOR RYO (1:40 p.m.) -- Japan's Ryo Ishikawa struggled in the third round of the Transitions Championship, turning in a 4-over 75. At that same mark for the tournament, Ishikawa will have an early tee time on Sunday and he'll try to fire a low number.

After a rough start on Saturday with a 42 on the front nine, Ishikawa played much better on the back, making three birdies and one bogey for a 2-under 33. That lone bogey on the inward nine came on his final hole.

Here's a look at his round:

GREAT START (1:25 p.m.) -- Reigning Masters champion Trevor Immelman wasted no time gaining some ground in the third round this afternoon.

Immelman

Immelman started the day at 4 under and was trailing 36-hole leaders Nick Watney and Steve Stricker by two shots.

However, thanks to an eagle 3 on the opening hole -- a par-5, which has been amongst the easiest all week -- Immelman now has a share of the lead.

Copperhead is the type of course where you need to get your scoring done on the par 5s, because there aren't a whole lot of birdies out there. Nice strat for Immelman.

PLAYING TOUGH AGAIN (1 p.m.) -- The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook is always one of the toughest on the PGA TOUR.

Quigley

That's holding true to form today. With most of the players on the course in the third round only 17 are under par and none of been better to this point than Brett Quigley, Heath Slocum and John Huston, who are all 2 under for the day.

Slocum, in fact, had a birdie-birdie start to his day.

This can't be good news for the leaders, who will tee off in less than an hour.

MORE ON FURYK (12:35 p.m.) -- As previously noted, it was a tale of two rounds for Furyk between Thursday and Friday. Below you can see his stats up to this point in the tournament. Notice the number of putts from Round 1 (25) to Round 2 (34) and it's clear what the problem has been. Also, shockingly, he's tied for first in birdies made:

STRANGE HAPPENINGS (12:20 p.m.) -- Jim Furyk's strange week at the Transitions Championship continues. After snagging the first-round lead with an impressive 6-under 65 on Thursday -- a round that included an incredible 160 feet worth of putts -- Furyk had a rough 7-over 78 in the second round to make the cut on the number.

With an early tee time today, Furyk already has a colorful scorecard that includes five birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

Check it out:

EARLY WOES FOR RYO (12:05 p.m.) -- The good news for Japanese teen sensation Ryo Ishikawa is that he made the cut this week at the Transitions Championship in just his second start on the PGA TOUR.

The bad news? Ishikawa is off to a rough start on the demanding Copperhead Course this morning.

With four bogeys over his first six holes, the 17-year-old was quickly 4 over for the tournament. Making matters worse was a double bogey on the par-4 ninth hole for a front-nine 42.

Here's a look at his card:

CHECK THESE OUT (noon) -- In case you missed it, TOUR veteran and multiple winner Olin Browne took shot of the day honors in the second round on Friday.

What made it special, however, wasn't just one shot for the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team assistant captain, but two.

First, Browne chipped in for birdie on the fourth hole. He followed that up with a near ace on the eigth hole.

You can see both shots by clicking here.

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   9:07 a.m. ET No. 1 Jim Furyk, Rory Sabbatini Furyk followed his opening 65 with a shocking 78. Has he developed a putting issue, or was Friday's blow-up just a fluke? Track 'em 9:43 a.m. ET No. 1 Nathan Green, Ryo Ishikawa Rising star Ishikawa made his first PGA TOUR cut Friday. Now can he relax and play his way into contention? Track 'em 1:55 p.m. ET No. 1 Nick Watney. Steve Stricker The two co-leaders have matched 69s and 67s so far. Will the youngster or the veteran break out ahead today? Track 'em

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