AT&T National: Third-round notebook
Weather: Mostly sunny skies in the morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon. W NW winds at 10-15 mph and a high temperature of 84.
• In observation of Independence Day, all 18 flagsticks were adorned with American flags.
• Tiger Woods (64-66-70) shot an even-par 70 in the third round to maintain a share of the lead after 54-holes. Woods was joined in the lead by defending champion, Anthony Kim (62-70-68), who bogeyed the opening hole of the third round before mixing four birdies with one more bogey.
• Woods holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the 49th time in his career. Woods has won 45 of the previous 48 times when leading after 54-holes. The three times he didn't win -- T5/1996 Quad City Open, 2/2000 and 2004 THE TOUR Championship.
• Woods ranks T2 in Greens In Regulation (42/54 or 77.8 percent) through 54 holes. No player in the top 15 ranks No. 1 in Fairways Hit, Greens In Regulation, Driving Distance or Putts Per Round.
• Should Woods win on Sunday he would become just the second player to win an official PGA TOUR event as host. Jack Nicklaus won the Memorial Tournament as host in 1977 and 1984. Arnold Palmer won the 1971 Florida Citrus Open Invitational at Rio Pinar CC. Palmer began hosting the event when it moved to the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in 1979. That event is now known as the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.
• Woods, at No. 4, is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup standings teeing it up this week. With a victory here he would become the first player to top 2,000 points this season. Woods, Sean O'Hair (69-72-68) and Lucas Glover (69-66-68) are the only three players who have a chance to oust Kenny Perry from the No. 1 spot this week, but all three require victory to make that happen.
• Woods and Anthony Kim will be paired together in a PGA TOUR event for the first time in Sunday's final round. They tee off at 2:20 p.m. ET.
• Kim holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the second time in his career. Kim led the 2008 Wachovia Championship after 54 holes and went on to win that event for his first TOUR victory.
• Should Kim defend his title on Sunday he will be the fourth player to do so this season (Phil Mickelson/Northern Trust Open -- Tiger Woods/Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Zach Johnson/Valero Texas Open).
• The AT&T National is Michael Allen's (67-69-65) 337th career start on the PGA TOUR where he has yet to post a victory. However, the 50-year-old California native who turned professional in 1984, has won on the European Tour (1989 Bell's Scottish Open), Nationwide Tour (1998 Greater Austin Open) and Champions Tour (2009 Senior PGA Championship). The Champions Tour win came a little more than a month ago in his first and only start and earned him fully exempt status for a year on the 50 and over circuit.
• Allen's 65 included four consecutive birdies on Nos. 6-9. It marks the 7th consecutive round in the 60s for Allen and matches the 65 in round two at last week's Travelers Championship as his low round of the season.
• Allen, who is T3 after the third round, has never held a 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. His previous-best position after 54-holes was T2 at the 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, eventually finishing T3.
• Allen is attempting to become the first player since Fred Funk (2007 Mayakoba Golf Classic, Turtle Bay Championship) to win on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour in the same year.
• Should Allen win, he would become the first player in history to win on the Champions Tour before winning on the PGA TOUR.
• Cameron Beckman (68-67-66), a two-time TOUR winner, has been a little quiet since his most recent win at the 2008 Frys.com Open late last year. Beckman has made 11 cuts from 16 starts this year with a season-best T15 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
• Since joining the TOUR in 1994, Jim Furyk (66-67-69), has recorded at least one victory every year with the exception of 1994, 97, 04, and 08. He has yet to record a win this season. Furyk has six top-10s this year and has a liking for Congressional CC, having finished T3 in both the 2007-08 editions of the AT&T National. He also posted a T5 finish at Congressional in the 1997 U.S. Open. Furyk is T5 after 54-holes.
• Ryuji Imada (69-69-66) began Round 3 with a bogey. Imada, currently No. 69 in the FedExCup standings, has six top-25s from his previous 17 starts this year, including a T20 at the Masters Tournament. A T14 at the Memorial Tournament is his best finish this season.
• Danny Lee (68-67-69) is playing his seventh TOUR event as a professional and has earnings of $169,304. The New Zealand rookie needs to earn the equivalent of $537,958 (150th on the 2008 money-list) to earn temporary membership and receive unlimited invitations. Lee, in T8 position through 36 holes, has confirmed starts at the Buick Open, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and a possible start at the Wyndham Championship where he finished T20 last year as an amateur.
• Ryan Moore (69-66-69) now has seven consecutive rounds in the 60s after four rounds in the 60s at last week's Travelers Championship. The former UNLV standout is looking for his first TOUR victory and is coming off back-to-back top-10s at the U. S. Open (T10) and Travelers Championship (T4). Moore has 14 career top-10s, including four runner-up finishes.
• Bryce Molder (64-70-70) has a chance at making the field for the 2009 British Open. Molder (T8) is one of several non-exempt players vying for a spot in the Open by finishing as the leading player, not otherwise exempt, who finish among the top-5 this week. Two players will also qualify for the Open via a special mini money-list (see below).
• The AT&T National is the sixth event in a six-tournament series (PLAYERS, Memorial, St. Jude, U.S. Open, Travelers, AT&T National), where the top two money-winners, not previously exempt, earn British Open exemptions. Here's a look at the list of non-exempt players, their current position on the list and the money they have earned in five of the six events:
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• Daniel Chopra (66-68-72) is 4-under and T16. Chopra has played the front nine 8-under through 54-holes, including a double bogey at the par-3 2nd hole in the third round.
• Marc Leishman (70-71-67) holed out from 143-yards for eagle at the 455-yard, par-4 3rd hole.
• Notah Begay III (70-72-72) was a teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford. He received a sponsor invite to contest the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods. Begay's best finish this season is T28 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, one of four made cuts from 14 starts this year. The four-time PGA TOUR winner shot 63 in the final round of last year's Qualifying School to make his way back to the TOUR after chronic back problems plagued his career. Begay has made 16 cuts from 53 starts in the last five years (2005-present) with just one top-10 (T9/2006 Buick Championship) during that period.
• Nathan Green birdied the final three holes to post a bogey-free 66. Other bogey-free rounds were recorded by Jason Bohn (67) and Matt Bettencourt (66).
• No. 18 is the Kodak Challenge hole this week and ranks as the 6th most-difficult through 54 holes this week. The scoring average for No. 18 in Round 3 was 4.000. Chris DiMarco maintains the Kodak Challenge lead at 9 under.
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