Third-round notebook – Buick Open
* Dudley Hart entered the 2008 season on a Major Medical Exemption after his wife was diagnosed with non-smokers lung cancer in May of 2007. Hart entered the season with 15 Tournaments to make $485,931 and receive fully exempt status for the remainder of 2008. With his T12 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in March came a $110,825 paycheck, surpassing the needed money.
* After three rounds at the Buick Open, the field was reduced from 85 players to 75 players via the PGA Tour's secondary cut, which calls for the field to be reduced to the low 70 players and ties if the 36-hole cut results in more than 78 players making the cut.
* Daniel Chopra carded a third-round 69 on Saturday at the Buick Open and will now take a two-shot lead over Bubba Watson, Woody Austin and Dudley Hart into Sunday's final round.
* The only 54-hole lead of Daniel Chopra's PGA Tour career came at the 2007 Ginn Sur mer Classic, where he took a two-shot lead into Sunday's final round en route to capturing his first Tour title.
* Chopra opened the season on fire with a win at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, for which he was exempt via his first PGA Tour title at the 2007 Ginn Sur mer Classic. However, Chopra has struggled since his win in Hawaii with zero top-25 finishes to his name in 17 events in that time span.
* After recording eight top-10 finishes in 2006 and 2007 combined, Bubba Watson has only two thus far in 2008. He is coming off of his best finish of the year at the Travelers Championship (T6), but came closest to winning at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, where he held a share of the 54-hole lead before finishing T8.
* Today marks the 16th straight PGA Tour event that has featured a solo leader through 54 holes. The last Tournament to have multiple leaders after three rounds was the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, when five players shared the lead heading into the final round.
* Once again, Rod Pampling took advantage of the theory that Saturday is known as "moving day" on the PGA Tour. Pampling's third-round 65, the low round of the day, moved the Australian from T48 to T11. Pampling fired a third-round 63 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in May to move up to T2 through three rounds before losing to Phil Mickelson by one shot on Sunday.
* There have been nine 20-year-olds who have won on the PGA Tour in 2008, as compared to seven in all of 2007. However, after having six players in their 20s win in a seven-week stretch from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to THE PLAYERS, there have been none since.
* Six of the last seven 54-hole leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the Buick Open, with Brian Bateman (2007) being the only player to come from behind in that span. In the 49-year history of the Buick Open, the 54-hole leader has gone on to claim the title 20 times.
* Players who have carded all three rounds in the 60s: Daniel Chopra, Bubba Watson, Woody Austin, Kenny Perry, Charles Warren and Ken Duke.
* Kevin Na withdrew after nine holes on Saturday.
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