Bob Hope Classic: Third-round notebook

text size

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Playing in his 198th PGA TOUR event, Pat Perez has held the third-round lead once in his TOUR career. In that event, Perez finished second at the 2002 AT&T Pebble Beach.

Dunn/Getty Images

Steve Stricker set his career low with a 61 Friday on the Palmer Private Course.

Inside the Numbers

54-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Pat Perez 191 -25 2. Steve Stricker 193 -23 3. Vaughn Taylor 194 -22 T4. David Berganio Jr. 195 -21 T4. Chris Stroud 195 -21 T4. Richard S. Johnson 195 -21 T4. Jason Dufner 195 -21 T8. Tom Pernice Jr. 196 -20 T8. Charlie Wi 196 -20 T8. Rich Beem 196 -20 T8. Briny Baird 196 -20 T8. Robert Garrigus 196 -20

• Perez stands at 25-under 191 after the third round, which is his 600th career round on TOUR. Perez's previous low 54-hole total was a 198 set at the 2004 Valero Texas Open. He is looking for his first TOUR victory and has a pair of second-place finishes, which both came in 2002.

• Steve Stricker matched the previous tournament record with a 54-hole total of 193 held by Joe Durant (2001) and Joe Ogilvie (2005), but it was broken later in the day by Perez, who finished with a 191.

• Playing in the 1,103rd round of his PGA TOUR career and the 339th tournament, Stricker set a career-low round with a 61 on the Palmer Private Course. Stricker seems to prefer the desert as his previous low rounds came at the 2001 Phoenix Open and 2003 Phoenix Open.

• Stricker's previous career-low 54-hole total was 198 at the 2007 BMW Championship and the 1998 U.S. Bank Championship.

• Vaughn Taylor set a personal best low 54-hole total with a 194. His previous low was a 195 at the 2005 Legends Reno-Tahoe Open.

• It's still a little early to start talking about Perez being a wire-to-wire winner, but such a feat has happened only one time previously in tournament history. Rik Massengale led from start to finish back in 1977.

• Charlie Wi matched his career low round of 61 in the third round. His other 61 came at the 2008 Valero Texas Open, where he finished tied for second. In the third round, Wi recorded eagles on No. 8 and No. 16, both par 5s.

• Playing in his fifth PGA TOUR event, Bill Lunde shattered his personal best round by five strokes with a 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Private Course. Lunde's previous best round was a 67 at the 1998 Las Vegas Invitational. Of his four previous TOUR events, Lunde has made one cut.

• Matthew Goggin recorded a 10-under 62 on the Bermuda Dunes Course to set a new career low round. His previous low was a 63 accomplished on two occasions most recently at the 2008 Frys.com Open.

• There are a couple players among the leaders at the 50th Bob Hope Classic who have never won a TOUR event. The active players with the most top-10s but without a win are Harrison Frazar 33 (tied for 102nd), Tim Clark 31 (tied for 16th), Jay Delsing 30 (not playing), Brett Quigley 30 (tied for 91st), Justin Rose 25 (not playing), Skip Kendall 25 (not playing) Briny Baird 23 (tied for eighth) and Fredrik Jacobson 22 (not playing).

• The cumulative scoring averages through three rounds: 67.885 on the Palmer Course, 69.208 at SilverRock, 68.400 at Bermuda Dunes and 66.885 at the Nicklaus Course

• John Senden recorded the second hole-in-one by a TOUR professional this week during the third round on the Nicklaus Private Course. Senden used a 7-iron to hole out on the 177-yard third hole. Briny Baird recorded a hole-in-one in the second round.

• There have been four other holes-in-one including celebrity actor Michael Pena who holed out on No. 7 on the Nicklaus Private Course during the third round. The other three were amateur golfers.

• In the third round, there were two 11-under 61s and two 10-under 62s. Baird and Tom Pernice Jr. lead in Putts/Round Average (25.33) after the third round. Perez is tied for first in Greens in Regulation through three rounds (49/54 or 90.7%).

• Bart Bryant withdrew prior to the third round (illness).