Third-round notebook – Wyndham Championship
* Chris Riley got off to the hottest start of the day in round three Saturday by holing his approach shot for an eagle-two on the par-four first hole with a nine-iron from 164 yards.* When the third round was called for the day, Chris Riley was tied at the top with Sergio Garcia at 13-under through 10 holes. Should he maintain at least a share of the lead at the end of round three, it will be third time he has held at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He was T1 after 54 holes at the 2002 Reno-Tahoe Open, which he ultimately won. He also held a share of the 54-hole lead at the 2003 John Deere Classic before finishing T2.
* Chris Riley is competing in his eighth Wyndham Championship this week. His previous best finish was a T14 in 2002 when it was played at Forrest Oaks Country Club.
* Chris Riley is in the midst of a solid stretch of golf right now. Of the past three events in which he has competed prior to this week, he has finished no worse than T17. His best finish of the year came with a T7 at last month’s U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. He followed that a week later with a T16 at the RBC Canadian Open. Two weeks ago, he finished T17 at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, where he claimed his lone PGA Tour win in 2002.
* Sergio Garcia is making the most out of a last-minute decision to play the 2009 Wyndham Championship. Through 10 holes in the third round, Garcia sits atop the leaderboard with Chris Riley at 13-under.
* Sergio Garcia is competing in his 14th event of the 2009 season this week with just a lone top-10 finish (T10/U.S. Open). He missed the cut at last week’s PGA Championship.
* Sergio Garcia is playing in just his second Wyndham Championship. He finished T13 in 2005 at Forrest Oaks Country Club. Sergio Garcia has, however, enjoyed some success at Sedgefield Country Club. As an amateur in 1998, he finished T3 at the NIKE Greensboro Open.
* Should Sergio Garcia hang on to at least a share of the lead at the end of the third round, it will mark the seventh time he has been at the top of the leaderboard after 54 holes. Of the previous six, he managed to parlay two into wins.
* What may very well go down as the round of the day in round three belonged to Steve Marino, who fired a bogey-free 7-under 63 and get to 12-under for the Tournament. The 63 was his best round since firing an 8-under 62 in round three of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
* 49 year-old Presidents Cup Captain, Fred Couples, began round three with a red-hot putter. Couples birdied the first two holes needing just two putts, which combined for 79 feet nine inches.
* When play ended for the day, Fred Couples was T3 through 12 holes. Should he maintain that status, it will be his best third-round standing since being tied for the 54-hole lead earlier this year at the Shell Houston Open. He ultimately finished T3 in Houston.
* Justin Thomas, a 16-year-old from Goshen, KY, was 2-over through 16 holes, 1-under for the Tournament. He will likely fall victim to the 54-hole cut to be made upon completion of the third round.
* Although he may miss the 54-hole cut, Justin Thomas became the third youngest player in PGA Tour history to make a 36-hole cut. Thomas is 16 years, 3 months and 25 days old today (born April 29, 1993). Bob Panasik was 15 years, 8 months and 20 days old when he made the cut at the 1957 Canadian Open (T66). Tadd Fujikawa was 16 years and 4 days old when he made the cut at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii (T20). Panasik went on to play in 38 PGA Tour events from his first in 1957 until his last in 1987. In those 38 events, he made 35 cuts and recorded nine top 25 finishes. Fujikawa has played 12 events on Tour with four made cuts.
* Justin Thomas earned a sponsor exemption by winning at the American Junior Golf Association’s FootJoy Invitational earlier this year at Sedgefield Country Club. For the first year, a sponsor’s exemption to the Wyndham Championship was granted to the winner of the FootJoy Invitational. Thomas made the most of this opportunity, as three late birdies helped him turn a two-shot deficit into a two-shot victory at the FootJoy Invitational and a spot into his first PGA Tour event. Thomas has two other AJGA wins on his resume.
* Sedgefield Country Club has a history of amateurs doing well in professional events. Sergio Garcia finished T3 in 1998 in the Nationwide Tour’s Greensboro Open, while Charles Howell III finished T2 in 2000 Nationwide Tour Greensboro Open.
* The Wyndham Championship also has a history of amateurs doing well. Below is a list of top 25 finishes by amateurs at the Wyndham Championship:
Year Amateur Player Finish Course
1947 Frank Stranahan 2nd Starmount Forest CC
1947 Dick Chapman T8 Starmount Forest CC
1948 Dick Chapman T21 Sedgefield Country Club
1949 Frank Stranahan T3 Starmount Forest CC
1949 Skee Riegel T21 Starmount Forest CC
1951 Hobart Manley Jr. T18 Starmount Forest CC
1951 Harvie Ward Jr. T24 Starmount Forest CC
1953 Frank Stranahan 8th Sedgefield Country Club
1956 Larry Dempsey 19th Starmount Forest CC
1961 Bill Harvey T23 Sedgefield Country Club
2004 Ryan Moore T24 Forest Oaks Country Club
2008 Danny Lee T20 Sedgefield Country Club
* The top 96 players in the FedExCup standings coming into the Wyndham Championship have locked in a spot at The Barclays for the first event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup. This means that all the players ranked 97 or higher in the FedExCup standings are "on the bubble" and are fighting to get into the top 125.
* New Zealand golfer Danny Lee, 19, needs to earn $141,404 this week at the Wyndham Championship to earn special temporary membership on the PGA Tour and continue playing this season. If Lee does not earn $141,404, he will have to wait until the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in December to earn his card for next season. Lee made the cut on the number and was T72 at 3-under through 11 holes when play ended for the day.
* As the final event in the FedExCup Regular Season, the Wyndham Championship plays a vital role in the race to the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup. In the off-season, the field size for the first Playoffs event was decreased from 144 to 125 and the Wyndham Championship will serve as the final stage for players trying to move or stay inside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings.
* Another key change this season was moving the points reset from the beginning of the Playoffs to after the BMW Championship (third event). This guarantees that all 30 players at THE Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola will have a mathematical chance at winning the FedExCup. It also means that the top five players in the FedExCup points entering THE Tour Championship will control their own destiny – if they win the Tour Championship they will also win the FedExCup.
* There have not been any rookie winners on Tour so far this season. The last season that a rookie failed to capture a win was in 1998, the year that Steve Flesch won PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors. Actually, since 1979 there have only been three seasons (1998, 1986 and 1981) where a rookie failed to capture a victory.
* Due to a dangerous weather situation, third-round play was suspended until 12:09 p.m. Saturday.
Saturday’s weather was mostly cloudy with morning thunderstorms and temperatures reaching the upper-80s. Winds SW 5-10 mph. Due to another dangerous weather situation, third-round play was suspended at 3:53 p.m. until 6:42 p.m.. .75 inches of rain fell in the afternoon, coupled with .65 inches in the morning delay, totaling for 1.4 inches of rain. Play for the day ended at 7:57 p.m. and will resume at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
* The Wyndham Championship is the 12th event of the 2009 PGA Tour season to be interrupted by weather. Most recently before this week, the RBC Canadian Open was impacted by inclement weather Thursday through Sunday, resulting in a Monday finish.
* 87 players made the 36-hole cut at 2-under-par. Since more than 70 players made the cut, there was an additional reduction of the field to 70 professional players and ties following the third round. Players eliminated after 54 holes will receive their appropriate share of the official prize money in accordance with their respective positions.
* The 87 players who made the 36-hole cut is the largest number of the year, with 85 at the Buick Invitational being the next highest. This is the ninth event of the year to have a 54-hole cut.
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