Charles Schwab Cup Championship: Rd. 3 notes

text size

Weather: Perfect with highs in the low 70s and winds from the NW at 5-10 mph.

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Round 2
Round 4 Tee Times
Scorecard: John Cook

• John Cook's score of 19-under-par 197 matches Jack Nicklaus' three-round total of 19-under 197 (1990 Mazda Senior Players Championship) as the lowest 54-hole score in a 72-hole Champions Tour event.

• Cook's three-round total of 19-under 197 was easily a career-best on the Champions Tour and shattered the 54-hole Charles Schwab Cup Championship tournament record (Jim Thorpe--16-under-par 200 at Sonoma Golf Club in 2003).

• Cook's six-stroke margin over Russ Cochran after three rounds is the largest 54-hole lead in a 72-hole Champions Tour event since Jay Haas enjoyed a six-stroke margin over Loren Roberts, Lonnie Nielsen, Dana Quigley, Tom Kite and Tom Watson after play finished on Saturday at the 2005 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. However, Watson eventually won the tournament that year when he carded a final-round 64 and Haas shot 71 on Sunday.

• This marks the second time Cook has held a 54-hole lead in his Champions Tour career. Cook held a one-stroke lead over Bruce Vaughan after three rounds of the 2008 Senior British Open at Royal Troon but lost out to Vaughan in a playoff. On the PGA TOUR, Cook was a 54-hole leader/co-leader 12 times and went on to win on five occasions.

• Since the Charles Schwab Cup Championship became a 72-hole event in 1994, third-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win this event seven of 15 times and three of the previous six years at Sonoma Golf Club (Jim Thorpe, 2003, Jim Thorpe, 2006, Andy Bean, 2008).

• Loren Roberts, the current Charles Schwab Cup leader, posted a 6-under 66, the lowest round of the day, and moved up 10 spots into a T15 after three rounds. Roberts will be keeping a close eye on Bernhard Langer tomorrow. For Langer to overtake Roberts for the 2009 Schwab Cup, he would have to finish first or solo second and hope Roberts finishes in lower than ninth place. All players in this week's field earn double Schwab Cup points.

• Should Cook go on and win tomorrow, he would finish in the top five in the final Charles Schwab Cup standings and would earn an annuity as well. Cook currently stands third in the year-to-date projected Schwab Cup points with 2,351.

• Cook is bidding to win his fourth overall event on the Champions Tour and is trying to claim a second title in his last three tournaments (Administaff Small Business Classic). If successful, he would join Langer (4), Roberts (3), Keith Fergus (2) and Jay Haas (2) as a multiple winner on the 2009 Champions Tour. Cook last won multiple events on the PGA TOUR in 1996 (FedEx St. Jude Classic, CVS Charity Classic).

• Statistically Speaking: Cook has made just two bogeys over 54 holes with none on the front nine. Cook is 12-under on the front nine and seven under on the back nine...John Cook is 9-under on the par-5s this week, 8-under on the par-4s....Cook has made 21 birdies in 54 holes, the most by a player in the 28-man field...Larry Mize leads in Driving Accuracy, hitting 33 of 42 fairways thus far...Tom Watson, Dan Forsman and Lonnie Nielsen have all hit 47 of 54 greens in regulation...Phil Blackmar has made just four bogeys in his last 91 holes on the Champions Tour.

• Joey Sindelar withdrew from the tournament while playing the fifth hole today with dizziness. Sindelar was taken to a local hospital in Sonoma and kept overnight for observation.

• The 28-player field averaged 70.036 today compared to 68.345 on Friday and 70.414 on Thursday. This year's cumulative stroke average for three rounds is 69.593 compared to 70.885 at Sonoma Golf Club last year.

• Haas' 2-under 70 Saturday extends his streak of par/better rounds this year to 19 consecutive...Russ Cochran celebrated his 51stbirthday today with a 4-under 68. Cochran, along with John Cookand Brad Bryant, are the only three players in the field with three consecutive rounds in the 60s...Brad Bryant is picking up right where he left off last year at Sonoma Golf Club. A third-place finisher in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship last year, Bryant is currently T3 through 54 holes this year.