Round 3 Notes – Honda Classic
For the 11th time in his career, Mark Calcavecchia finds himself with at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Of the previous 10, he has parlayed seven into wins. He most recently achieved that feat at the 2007 PODS Championship in Tampa, where he defends next week. Calcavecchia has progressively improved in each round with regards to his accuracy from the fairway. He hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation Thursday, 14 of 18 Friday, and improved to 15 of 18 Saturday.
As he did on Friday, Luke Donald posted another bogey-free round Saturday en-route to a four-under-par 66.
Donald is two for six when leading or co-leading after 54 holes. One of those two wins, however, came at the 2006 Honda Classic when he was tied with Billy Mayfair.
The last time these two co-leaders played in the same group was in rounds one and two of the 2007 World Golf Championships-CA Championship.
Since 1988, 11 of the past 20 third round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to claim victory at The Honda Classic.
2007 Mark Wilson
2006 Luke Donald
2004 Todd Hamilton
2001 Jesper Parnevik
1998 Mark Calcavecchia
1997 Stuart Appleby
1996 Tim Herron
1995 Mark O’Meara
1991 Steve Pate
1990 John Huston
1988 Joey Sindelar
For the past six years, winning for the first time at the Honda Classic has been the norm. In fact, four of the past six champions have made the Honda Classic their first PGA TOUR win.
2007 Mark Wilson
2005 Padraig Harrington
2004 Todd Hamilton
2002 Matt Kuchar
Playing on a Major Medical Extension, Ben Crane came into the 2008 PGA TOUR season with 18 events to earn $506,928 and receive Major Medical Extension status for the remainder of the 2008 season. Through just four events so far (not including the Honda Classic), Crane has amassed $353,429, leaving him in need of $153,499. Should he finish in a two-way tie for ninth or better, Crane will surpass the remaining balance.
Playing as a Monday qualifier, Michael Letzig has now posted three consecutive rounds of par or better to earn T8 honors headed into Sunday’s final round. Should he go on and win, he would be the first Monday qualifier to win a PGA TOUR tournament since Fred Wadsworth at the 1986 Southern Open.
A familiar face was not in the field on the weekend. By missing the cut, defending champion Mark Wilson became just the third player since 1998 to not be around for the weekend. 2004 Honda Classic champion Todd Hamilton missed the cut in 2005, and 2001 Honda Classic champion, Jesper Parnevik, also failed to keep a spot in the weekend field in 2002.
The last 54-hole tie for the lead came at the 2008 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when Vijay Singh was tied with Dudley Hart.
The scoring average for Saturday was 70.22. The par four sixth hole played as the toughest Saturday, playing to an average of 4.235. The easiest hole Saturday was the par five third hole, with a scoring average of 4.675.
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