Anthony Kim leads by one over Stallings
Two-time PGA Tour winner Anthony Kim moved closer to a possible fourth in round three with a bogey-free, 8-under 62. He sits atop the leaderboard at 10-under. The 62 matches his career-low round on Tour (R1/2009 AT&T National).Kim birdied four of his first five holes on the inward nine, including 12 and 14, both of which he has birdied each of the first three rounds. Kim is looking for his first win since the 2010 Shell Houston Open.
Virtually perfect, Kim hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation, and needed 27 putts
Kim is making his 22nd start this season, with a pair of top-10 finishes. The most recent was a T5 at the British Open a few weeks ago.
Kim did not play in last year’s inaugural Greenbrier Classic.
Kim began the week ranked 92nd in FedExCup standings. With a win, he is currently projected to vault all the way up to number 28.
Should Kim win Sunday, at 26 years, 1 month, 12 days, he would become the 12th different player in his 20s to emerge victorious this season alone.
Should Kim win and collect a fourth Tour title, be would become the winningest player of the current twenty-somethings. Camilo Villegas and Sean O’Hair also currently have three titles.
The third-rounder leader has held on for the win 18 of 30 times this year, most recently Chris Kirk at the Viking Classic a few weeks ago.
Scott Stallings
PGA Tour rookie Scott Stallings followed a second-round, 5-under 65 with 4-under 66. In second place, he is just a stroke behind Anthony Kim’s 10-under lead.
Stallings, a rookie on the Nationwide Tour in 2010, earned his card onto the PGA Tour by virtue of a T11 finish at the 2010 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.
Stallings has played his last 42 holes without a bogey.
Stallings is making his 21st start of the season this week. After missing the cut in his first five starts on Tour in 2011, he finished third at the Transitions Championship, three strokes behind winner Gary Woodland, who will start tomorrow’s final round in third place, two strokes back. Interestingly, Gary Woodland, Scott Stallings, Chris Couch and Webb Simpson all finished in the top 5 at the Transitions Championship. They each begin the final round at the Greenbrier Classic tomorrow in the top 5, as well.
Gary Woodland
Following his second-round, even-par 70, Gary Woodland rallied in round three with a 3-under 67. He will begin the final round in third place, just two strokes off Anthony Kim’s 10-under lead.
Woodland, who underwent shoulder surgery in 2009, is in the midst of a great year on Tour. In addition to his Transitions Championship win, he has collected an additional four top-10 finishes, including a playoff loss to Jhonattan Vegas at the Bob Hope Classic.
Woodland missed the cut in the inaugural Greenbrier Classic last year.
Woodland entered this week ranked No. 11 on the FedExCup points list, obviously in prime position for the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Jimmy Walker
Jimmy Walker took advantage of benign conditions in round three and posted a career-low, bogey-free, 8-under 62. He began the day eight strokes off the lead. Last year, 2010 Greenbrier Classic champion Stuart Appleby began the third round eight shots off the lead and then the final round seven shots behind en route to his 59.
Walker was 12/14 in fairways hit and a perfect 18/18 in greens in regulation. He took 28 putts in round three, the fewest of his first three rounds.
Walker, who finished T4 at last year’s inaugural Greenbrier Classic, has been treated well by the state of West Virginia. In 2007, he claimed his third, and most recent, Nationwide Tour win at the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic in Bridgeport, WV.
Walker is making his 20th start of the 2011 season this week, three of which were top-10 finishes in three of his first five starts.
Walker’s best finish on Tour was a T3 at the 2010 Valero Texas Open in his hometown of San Antonio
Miscellaneous
Second-round co-leader Webb Simpson, No. 9 in the FedExCup standings, posted a 1-under 69 to sit T3.
Former Virginia Tech standout and local favorite Brendon de Jonge, who led after the second round with Webb Simpson, struggled in round three with a 2-over 72. He will begin the final round T11.
Double heart-transplant recipient Erik Compton carded a 3-over 73 on Saturday to sit T70.
The par-3 third hole played the toughest during the third round, yielding a 3.293 average. The par-5 17th hole was the easiest for the day with a 4.387 average.
Bogey-free rounds:
R1: Derek Lamely (65), Will Strickler (67), J.P. Hayes (68), Spencer Levin (70)
R2: Scott Stallings (65), Tad Ridings (66), Bill Haas (67), William McGirt (68), Brandt Jobe (69)
R3: Anthony Kim (62), Scott Stallings (66), Jimmy Walker (62), Nick O’Hern (66), Chris DiMarco (64), D.A. Points (67), Josh Teater (67)
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