Round 3 Notes – PODS Championship
Stewart Cink will be trying to win his fifth PGA TOUR title tomorrow and
first in the state of Florida. Cink will also be trying to end a drought of
86 official PGA TOUR events without a victory. He last won at the 1994
WGC-NEC Invitational. Cink’s record when leading/co-leading after three
rounds is 1-8. The last time he was in this position in a stroke-play event
was at the 2006 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and he eventually lost to
Tiger Woods on the fourth hole of a playoff.
The third round of the 2008 PODS Championship was suspended by darkness at
6:39 p.m. (ET) with two groups (six players) left to complete play. The
round will resume at 9:30 a.m. (ET).
The third-round leader/co-leader of the PODS Championship has gone on to
win the tournament in each of the last six seasons. The only year the
eventual winner didn't hold at least a share of the 54-hole lead was during
the inaugural tournament in 2000, when John Huston stormed back from four
shots down to overcome 54-hole leader Carl Paulson.
Stewart Cink’s 5-under 208 score is the highest three-round total to lead
in tournament history. In each of the last three years at the PODS
Championship, the third-round leader(s) have been at 9-under-par 204.
Stewart Cink, Geoff Ogilvy and Corey Pavin all posted 2-under 69s, the
lowest third-round scores of the day. Cink played 28 holes on Saturday. He
was even par for the last 10 holes (two birdies, two bogeys) of his second
round this morning. Cink’s 69 in the third round included three consecutive
birdies (Nos. 10-12) and a bogey on the 18th hole. Ogilvy’s 69 in the third
round vaulted him from a T17 into a T2. Pavin’s 2-under-par third round
vaulted him up 52 spots into a T13.
Earlier in the day, Geoff Ogilvy made his first cut of the 2008 season and
first since last year’s Deutsche Bank Championship.
A total of 79 players made the 36-hole cut at this year’s PODS Championship
with a score of 3-over 145. It matched the highest cut score in event
history (2003). Since more than 78 players made the 36-hole cut this
morning, there will be a 54-hole cut tomorrow morning for the first time
under the new PGA TOUR guidelines.
Scott Verplank's 8-over 79 in the second round of the PODS Championship
snapped a streak of 28 consecutive rounds at par or better for the
five-time PGA TOUR winner. The last time Verplank failed to turn in a round
of par or better was on the final day of The Barclays in 2007 (1-over 72).
Brandt Snedeker’s one-stroke lead over Jeff Maggert after 36 holes of this
year’s PODS Championship marked the first time he’d been on top through two
rounds of a PGA TOUR event since the 2007 Buick Invitational in San Diego
(three strokes over Charles Howell). Snedeker went on to finish two strokes
back of Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines last year. Snedeker is currently T2
with three holes left to play in his third round, two strokes back of
Stewart Cink.
For the first time in the history of the PODS Championship, the 36-hole
leader’s score to par (Brandt Snedeker/-5) was higher than that of the
first-round leaders (Lee Janzen, Bart Bryant/-6). Last year at the PODS
Championship, Stephen Leaney (-6) led Heath Slocum by one stroke after 36
holes.
With winds gusting to 35 mph on Friday afternoon and throughout most of the
day on Saturday,
the second-round scoring average was 74.558, the highest in tournament
history, and the second highest for a round on the PGA TOUR this year. The
highest for a round on TOUR this year was 74.788-Round 4, Buick
Invitational. When play was called late on Saturday afternoon, the field
scoring average for the third round was 73.970. The previous high scoring
average for a round at the PODS Championship was 73.106 (Round 1, 2003).
The second round yielded just five scores in the 60s and 10 players broke
par. With 73 of 79 players having posted third-round scores today, there
were just three scores in the 60s and only five players had third-round
scores under par. When third-round play was called, just nine players were
under par in the tournament.
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