By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

SAN FRANCISCO – Through two rounds, TPC Harding Park is playing plenty tough for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

That has led to a crowded leaderboard, which should make for an interesting Moving Day.

The 4 under 36-hole lead shared by Michael Allen, Fred Couples and David Frost marks the fewest strokes under par by leaders at the midway point since the event began in 1990. Mark Calcavecchia just joined them at 4 under, birdieing the first hole for the third consecutive day.

Conditions are overcast with a chance of rain, but at the moment are fine for scoring.

Allen, from nearby San Mateo, will get plenty of local support as he tries to get a title that narrowly eluded him last year. He shot a course-record 61 in the third round but couldn’t close out the event Sunday, and this year is in the thick of it again. He has six consecutive sub-par rounds at TPC Harding Park.

“I’ve been a little frustrated not winning since I opened up with a win at the (Senior) PGA,” said Allen, who won that in his 2009 debut season. “It’s going to be nice around here (Saturday), with all my friends here it will be even better. I would love to get a win in the Bay Area.”

Perry will be another sentimental favorite of sorts, going for his second win in as many starts. He won for the first time on the Champions Tour at the SAS Championship, an emotional win following his sister’s death on Saturday during the event. He missed the AT&T Championship and didn’t touch a club for two weeks.

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

SAN FRANCISCO – Tom Lehman is still projected to win the Schwab Cup, but Round 2 of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship showed it won’t be a walkover.

Mark Calcavecchia shot 68 at TPC Harding Park, tied for the low round of the day, to climb into a tie for fourth at 3 under behind Michael Allen, Fred Couples, David Frost.

Calcavecchia is second in Schwab Cup points and needs a combination of a win and a Lehman T2 or worse, or a runner-up with Lehman at T12 or worse.

Lehman is tied for 11th after a second-round 72. Calcavecchia said he’s not noticing – yet.

“He’s hanging around. He’ll be there at the end,” Calcavecchia said. “I’m not going to pay attention to him or David Frost or anybody else. There’s two rounds left. We’ll see what happens with the weather.”

Calcavecchia’s first two rounds have been an adventure. Thursday he shot a 71 that he said could have been a 75 or 76, were it not for a good putter. Friday’s 68, which included a holeout eagle, he said could have been a 65 had that same putter returned.

Friday he put a new Ping G20 driver in his bag, overnighted from the company after the first round. On the 10th tee Thursday he hit a bizarre drive that was heading deep into the parking lot before hitting a tree.

“I thought the head was loose, but it’s probably my head that’s loose,” Calcavecchia said to laughter in the media center. “Threw a new one in the bag and drove it great.”

The other three players who came into the week mathematically eligible to take the Schwab Cup with a win don’t appear likely to pull it off. Peter Senior (third in points) is tied for 24th at 5 over, John Cook (fourth) is tied for 21st at 4 over and Russ Cochran (fifth) is tied for 14th at 1 over.

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

SAN FRANCISCO – The Presidents Cup isn’t here yet, but U.S. Team captain Fred Couples and assistant captain Jay Haas unintentionally got into the team spirit Friday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

When they arrived on the first tee, fans got a chuckle out of the outfits: black pants, blue golf shirts, gray v-neck sweaters and white hats for both players. Only the sponsor logos were different.

“Everyone noticed we were dressed exactly alike. We heard (remarks) a lot,” Couples said. “In two weeks we’ll have the same thing on every day.”

Couples then gave one clue to the U.S. Team’s President Cup outfits – they won’t look like this.

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

SAN FRANCISCO – Fred Couples got off to an inauspicious start for a leader in Round 2 of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, promptly making double bogey on his first hole at TPC Harding Park.

But he hung around with a string pars until the 10th hole, where he made birdie, then added two more later on the back nine for a 1-under 70, enough to claim a share of the lead with Michael Allen and David Frost.

Friday was a nicer day that perhaps should have seen more low scores (Thursday and Friday’s low rounds were 68s, the first rounds in three years on the Champions Tour where the low round was that high), but Couples noted that Harding Park is no pushover.

“They moved a couple tees up, but still kept most of them back,” Couples said. “Everyone knows it’s cold. But it’s just a tough, tough course. I’m not dissatisfied shooting 1 under today at all.”

On the first hole he pushed a drive into the right rough, leaving tree limbs to contend with for his approach. He left that short in a bunker, blasted out 30 feet past the hole and three-putted. But on the back side he birdied the par-5 10th, hit a wedge to eight feet and made the putt on 15 and drove the ball pin-high on the par-4 16th, which had its tees moved up.

Two weeks ago on the Champions Tour, Couples posted 23 under at the AT&T Championship, winning by seven shots. With two rounds to go here, three are tied for the lead and and 10 are within four shots.

“It’s logjammed up there. Even if you don’t shoot a bad round tomorrow, someone shoots 68, you shoot well, you have a shot,” Couples said. “There are rounds out there where you can shoot 65 or 66 on this course. No one has done it yet because the first two days were pretty tough.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Two rounds are in the books at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and it’s still wide open at TPC Harding Park.

Michael Allen, Fred Couples and David Frost share the lead at 4 under, with Jay Don Blake, Mark Calcavecchia, Bernhard Langer and Kenny Perry all one shot back. Blake, Calcavecchia and Langer all shot 68, the low round of the day.

Jay Haas is at 2 under while Nick Price (who also shot 68) and Joey Sindelar are at 1 under.

Conditions were considerably better for Round 2, with no rain and calmer winds. Only seven players shot below par Thursday, while 15 did so Friday.

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM SAN FRANCISCO – Through two rounds, TPC Harding Park is playing plenty tough for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. That has led to a crowded leaderboard, which should make for an interesting Moving Day. The 4 under 36-hole lead shared by Michael Allen, Fred Couples and David Frost marks the fewest […]

Money leader J.J. Killeen got off to a slow start at the Nationwide Tour Championship, leaving the door wide open for someone else to step up and win the money title.

With a $1 million purse this week, the winner will take home a $180,000 check. Last place gets $3,000. That means there are 10 other players who could mathematically overtake Killeen in the top spot. (

Two of those players are currently one stroke off the lead after the first round. Ted Potter Jr. and Jason Kokrak have both already won twice this year and carded 67s Thursday at the Ralston Creek Course.

Potter was flawless in his first round with five birdies and no bogeys, but numbers and standings are the furthest thing from his mind. He admitted after his round that he’s not sure of the perks that come with winning the money title and he plans to keep it that way until after the last putt drops Sunday.

“I’m trying to play as good as I can this week and try to win the thing, just like I do every week,” he said. “I’m not thinking about the details of who needs to finish where.”

Kokrak got off to a hot start on the front with consecutive birdies. At the 11th hole he reached a turning point. He found himself going from a bunker to the rough and back to another bunker. He holed out from the bunker for what he called a “smooth par.”

“It could have gone either way. It was just a hole where the rough told me what to do,” he said. “If it’s down in the rough you really do have to take a wedge and play it on the safe side. My short game was there, kept me in it today.”

Potter is currently projected to be No. 1 on the money list, with Kokrak staying in the fourth position. They will face off in the same group in the second round starting at 12:40 p.m. ET.

The Nationwide Tour money leaders are just getting their first rounds going at the Ralston Creek Course at Daniel Island, but No. 60 on the money list has already made quite a statement.

Roger Tambellini, who barely made it in the field after missing the cut at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, opened with a 4-under 68. He didn’t expect his lead to last (and it the didn’t with

It all started when he made a 20-footer to save par on the first hole. “You make some putts like that, it takes some pressure off.  If you feel like you’re putting well, everything falls into place,” he said.

But at No. 60 on the money list, Tambellini has to be feeling pressure, right?

“The pressure was last week. Jerry Foltz was texting me the shot-by-shot if I was going to make it here. And I just made it,” he said. “This week I’m playing with nothing to lose.”

Tambellini admits there it still some pressure though.

“Good week means the card so there’s a lot at stake.”

Tambellini has done a few tours on the PGA TOUR, most recently in 2010 when he finished 171st on the money list. This season he’s spent time working with mental coach Jim Fannin and the results are starting to show.  His best finish was a T3 at the Miccosukee Championship just a few weeks ago.

“I feel like I’ve over done it the last couple of years,” he said. “The work is in my game now and all I have to do is let it go. The harder I work, the worse I play. I’m trying to get out of my own way, get away from golf after the rounds.”

And have some fun when he is on the course. Tambellini and playing partner Alistair Presnell, who is even par after his round, joked back and forth all morning.

“The more fun you have the better you play.”

Hard to argue when he’s within striking distance of the lead and a 2012 PGA TOUR card.

Stan Badz/PGA TOUR Daniel Chopra went on a “dream run” Friday at the Nationwide Tour Championship. The 24th-ranked player on the money list kicked off his second round with six-straight birdies and went on to card a course-record 62. Ten-under is also a career-low for Chopra in relation to par. “The first six holes I […]

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Playing his first full healthy season in a half decade, Trevor Immelman found a little magic Saturday at Sea Island.

The South African rolled in a pair of 35-foot putts on his last five holes Saturday while going 6 under in that stretch and reaching 11 under for the week at the McGladrey Classic.

“That’s always going to help your round, that’s for sure,” Immelman said. “I played real well today, drove the ball well, hit some nice iron shots and made some putts. It really was a fun day.”

This 2011 season has been a lot of fun for Immelman, who is looking to complete his first complete, healthy season since 2006.

“It’s the first year that I’ve gotten to play when I want to play and practice when I want to practice,” Immelman said. “With all that work, I’ve started to see some better signs And with those better signs, I’ve become more confident. So it’s really just that type of a process and it’s been fun for me to be able to come out and compete this year without taking breaks.”

Immelman had surgery late in 2007 to remove a benign tumor from his ribcage. He came back to win the 2008 Masters but started to feel pain in his left wrist late in that season’s campaign caused by tendonitis that affected his play each of the last two seasons.

Immelman has played in 23 events this season, making 16 cuts, but he still is in search of his first top-10 finish since the 2008 TOUR Championship. With 10 3’s on his course-record-tying scorecard Saturday, he’ll be in a good spot to do just that Sunday.

“In those moments, you’re just trying to stay out of your own way and trying not to think,” Immelman said. “Things are obviously going well for you on the day and you just trying to get in the house without having anything go through your mind.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Trevor Immelman went 6 under over his last five holes Saturday to shoot an 8-under 62 and tie the tournament record in Round 3 of the McGladrey Classic. Immelman’s round moves him into third place behind leader Billy Horschel and Michael Thomspon.

Horschel opened up a three-shot lead over Thompson early in the third round, but as the group made the turn, Horschel’s lead was down to one. Horschel has parred his last seven holes while Thompson posted birdies on Nos. 6 and 9 to get within one shot of the lead.

Webb Simpson is back to even for the day, 10 under for the event, and in fourth place, four behind Horschel.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — David Mathis is doing his part.

He earned his PGA TOUR card last October on the Nationwide Tour with a victory at the inaugural Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open and is looking to keep it with another good October showing.

Entering the week at No. 123 on the money list after a tie for 15th at last week’s Frys.Com Open, Mathis is projected to No. 115 after Saturday’s 4-under 66 moved him into a tie for 13th early in the afternoon at the McGladrey Classic.

“I pay attention to it,” Mathis said of his position on the money list. “I know it’s just one shot at a time, though. I can’t control what anyone else is doing. I can just control what I’m doing.”

Mathis was a TOUR member in 2009, after earning his card on the Nationwide Tour, but finished 160th on the money list, prompting a return to the Nationwide in 2010.

He posted back-to-back 1-under scores on the Seaside Course in Rounds 1 and 2 but had five birdies Saturday en route to his 66 that gets him to 6 under for the week.

Mathis hit 15 greens in regulation Saturday, and felt like the score could have been better. But a 25-foot birdie conversion on No. 18 sent him home happy after Round 3.

“The greens are really good but they’ve got some movement to them with the grain,” he said. “I thought we had a little bit of wind this morning that we’re not getting right now. It’s really calm out. But that affects it, too … I was just trying to keep it in front of me and get some good looks and I’m just thankful to be where I am.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The leaders didn’t have to be on the course long for the changes to begin showing up near the top of the leaderboard.

Overnight leader Billy Horschel has birdied his first two holes at Sea Island and moved to 14 under, three clear of his playing partner Michael Thompson who also birdied No. 2 to reach 11 under.

Nick O’Hern opened the day at 8 under, bogeyed his first hole, and now birdied three straight to reach 10 under and sit in third. Webb Simpson bogeyed No. 3 to fall to 9 under, five shots off the pace.

There are five players currently tied for fifth, seven shots off the pace — Ben Crane, Jeff Overton, Scott McCarron, Johnson Wagner and Louis Oosthuizen.

All nine of the players mentioned above are currently playing the front nine at Sea Island. With the calm conditions right now, players are taking on the course in ideal scoring conditions.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The two Englishmen to make the cut at this week’s McGladrey Classic have withdrawn from competition early Saturday morning.

Paul Casey, who entered the week at No. 127 on the money list, pulled out prior to the start of his round with an undisclosed illness. The 34-year-old’s two-year exemption from his victory at the 2009 Shell Houston Open is set to expire after this season. He was playing this week to try and move inside the top 125 and retain full status on TOUR.

Casey is not scheduled to play next week in the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, the PGA TOUR season finale.

Brian Davis, a five-time runner-up on TOUR, withdrew after he parred the first hole of his third round with a neck injury. At No. 66 on the money list, his 2012 TOUR card is secure. Davis is committed to play next week’s event at Disney if his neck is good to go by next Thursday.

If not, current first alternate Aron Price will get the call.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Florida’s Gators fell to the Crimson tide of Alabama 38-10 on the gridiron on Oct. 1. The Gators have a chance for some revenge two Saturday’s later, this matchup occurring on the Seaside Course in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Former Gator, and SEC Champion Billy Horschel and Alabama graduate Michael Thompson, another former SEC Champion, tee off at 1:10 p.m. ET in Saturday’s final pairing at the McGladrey Classic. Horschel, at 12 under, leads Thompson and Webb Simpson by two shots.

Horschel and Thompson both competed in the 2007 SEC Championships at the Seaside Course with Thompson finishing T4 and Horschel T16, five shots behind him. Thompson entered the final day a shot behind Horschel, but his final-round 67 created a six-shot swing.

The two were back in the SEC Championships, this event at Frederica Golf Club (also in St. Simons Island) in 2008. Michael Thompson was the event medalist as his Crimson Tide rolled to an eight shot victory in the overall competition. Horschel, whose Gators came in fourth, was his school’s low-man finishing in a tie for 7th.

Thompson graduated after that championship, but Horschel returned in 2009 to claim medalist honors at Frederica. His 206-stroke total was two better than Thompson’s the previous year, but Horschel’s Gators finished third behind Georgia and Arkansas.

Who followed in Thompson’s footsteps as Alabama’s low scorer in 2009? Bud Cauley, who went out at 11:12 this morning and is currently tied for 43rd at Sea Island.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Much like playing partner and longtime rival Jonathan Byrd, Charles Howell III felt that he’d left a lot of shots on the Seaside Course in the first two rounds of the McGladrey Classic.

Howell had five bogeys in his first two rounds but had just one Saturday in a 4-under 66 that got him to 5 under for the week.

The 32-year-old, making his first start since the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, has made his last 14 cuts dating back to late May. That streak spans two majors, all four events of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and picked back up this week at Sea Island.

“This game, it’s hard to pinpoint (what’s changed),” Howell said. “But I’ve worked steady and I’ve worked hard this year. I made a switch to a belly putter around May and it’s helped me a bit. It’s helped my consistency. It’s such a fickle game, it’s hard to pinpoint it.”

During this stretch, Howell has picked up five top-10 finishes bringing his season total to seven. An eighth at Sea Island would be a new career high and Howell is hoping mother nature cooperates and helps him to be in position Sunday.

“We may get a bit of wind today,” Howell said. “There are some young guys atop the leaderboard. If they go out there and play well, they’ll pull away and make it harder to catch them. But I’d like to see the wind blow a bit more this afternoon to make it interesting.”

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Clean sheets aren’t just a key to victory on the soccer pitch. They’re also a major factor on the golf course.

Take Jonathan Byrd for example. The two-time PGA TOUR winner had eight birdies in his first two rounds, but entered the weekend at 1 under because of two double bogeys and three bogeys.

He had no such bumps in the road Saturday in his bogey-free 4-under 66 that moved him 46 spots up the leaderboard eary Saturday at Sea Island.

“I hadn’t been really clean out there the last couple days,” Byrd said. “I’ve had eight or nine birdies and coming into today at 1 under, I felt like I left a lot out there. Today, I was just trying to play a little more aggressive and keep things a little more mentally and physically clean out there. A clean scorecard is always a nice thing.”

For the third consecutive day, Byrd was grouped with Charles Howell III, who he has been golfing competitively against for two decades. Howell, like Byrd, entered the day at 1 under (six birdies and five bogeys in the first two rounds) but he posted a matching 66 Saturday.

“It’s kind of like playing with an old buddy,” Byrd said. “It’s pretty comfortable out there. We both played a little better today than we have been, so that was nice to see.”

Byrd, one of the many St. Simons Island residents in the field this week, left the course with the best score of the locals. Matt Kuchar and Lucas Glover are among those still on the course, though.

Byrd was asked about any kind of competition between the residents of this area playing on their hometown course.

“I think nobody would say it, but I think it’s going on all year long, not just this week,” Byrd said. “It’s all year long, who’s going to have the best season. I guess Kuchar’s still probably having the best season so far this year.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Trevor Immelman went 6 under over his last five holes Saturday to shoot an 8-under 62 and tie the tournament record in Round 3 of the McGladrey Classic. Immelman’s round moves him into third place behind leader Billy Horschel and Michael Thomspon. Horschel opened up a three-shot lead over Thompson […]

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Playing his first full healthy season in a half decade, Trevor Immelman found a little magic Saturday at Sea Island.

The South African rolled in a pair of 35-foot putts on his last five holes Saturday while going 6 under in that stretch and reaching 11 under for the week at the McGladrey Classic.

“That’s always going to help your round, that’s for sure,” Immelman said. “I played real well today, drove the ball well, hit some nice iron shots and made some putts. It really was a fun day.”

This 2011 season has been a lot of fun for Immelman, who is looking to complete his first complete, healthy season since 2006.

“It’s the first year that I’ve gotten to play when I want to play and practice when I want to practice,” Immelman said. “With all that work, I’ve started to see some better signs And with those better signs, I’ve become more confident. So it’s really just that type of a process and it’s been fun for me to be able to come out and compete this year without taking breaks.”

Immelman had surgery late in 2007 to remove a benign tumor from his ribcage. He came back to win the 2008 Masters but started to feel pain in his left wrist late in that season’s campaign caused by tendonitis that affected his play each of the last two seasons.

Immelman has played in 23 events this season, making 16 cuts, but he still is in search of his first top-10 finish since the 2008 TOUR Championship. With 10 3’s on his course-record-tying scorecard Saturday, he’ll be in a good spot to do just that Sunday.

“In those moments, you’re just trying to stay out of your own way and trying not to think,” Immelman said. “Things are obviously going well for you on the day and you just trying to get in the house without having anything go through your mind.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Trevor Immelman went 6 under over his last five holes Saturday to shoot an 8-under 62 and tie the tournament record in Round 3 of the McGladrey Classic. Immelman’s round moves him into third place behind leader Billy Horschel and Michael Thomspon.

Horschel opened up a three-shot lead over Thompson early in the third round, but as the group made the turn, Horschel’s lead was down to one. Horschel has parred his last seven holes while Thompson posted birdies on Nos. 6 and 9 to get within one shot of the lead.

Webb Simpson is back to even for the day, 10 under for the event, and in fourth place, four behind Horschel.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — David Mathis is doing his part.

He earned his PGA TOUR card last October on the Nationwide Tour with a victory at the inaugural Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open and is looking to keep it with another good October showing.

Entering the week at No. 123 on the money list after a tie for 15th at last week’s Frys.Com Open, Mathis is projected to No. 115 after Saturday’s 4-under 66 moved him into a tie for 13th early in the afternoon at the McGladrey Classic.

“I pay attention to it,” Mathis said of his position on the money list. “I know it’s just one shot at a time, though. I can’t control what anyone else is doing. I can just control what I’m doing.”

Mathis was a TOUR member in 2009, after earning his card on the Nationwide Tour, but finished 160th on the money list, prompting a return to the Nationwide in 2010.

He posted back-to-back 1-under scores on the Seaside Course in Rounds 1 and 2 but had five birdies Saturday en route to his 66 that gets him to 6 under for the week.

Mathis hit 15 greens in regulation Saturday, and felt like the score could have been better. But a 25-foot birdie conversion on No. 18 sent him home happy after Round 3.

“The greens are really good but they’ve got some movement to them with the grain,” he said. “I thought we had a little bit of wind this morning that we’re not getting right now. It’s really calm out. But that affects it, too … I was just trying to keep it in front of me and get some good looks and I’m just thankful to be where I am.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The leaders didn’t have to be on the course long for the changes to begin showing up near the top of the leaderboard.

Overnight leader Billy Horschel has birdied his first two holes at Sea Island and moved to 14 under, three clear of his playing partner Michael Thompson who also birdied No. 2 to reach 11 under.

Nick O’Hern opened the day at 8 under, bogeyed his first hole, and now birdied three straight to reach 10 under and sit in third. Webb Simpson bogeyed No. 3 to fall to 9 under, five shots off the pace.

There are five players currently tied for fifth, seven shots off the pace — Ben Crane, Jeff Overton, Scott McCarron, Johnson Wagner and Louis Oosthuizen.

All nine of the players mentioned above are currently playing the front nine at Sea Island. With the calm conditions right now, players are taking on the course in ideal scoring conditions.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The two Englishmen to make the cut at this week’s McGladrey Classic have withdrawn from competition early Saturday morning.

Paul Casey, who entered the week at No. 127 on the money list, pulled out prior to the start of his round with an undisclosed illness. The 34-year-old’s two-year exemption from his victory at the 2009 Shell Houston Open is set to expire after this season. He was playing this week to try and move inside the top 125 and retain full status on TOUR.

Casey is not scheduled to play next week in the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, the PGA TOUR season finale.

Brian Davis, a five-time runner-up on TOUR, withdrew after he parred the first hole of his third round with a neck injury. At No. 66 on the money list, his 2012 TOUR card is secure. Davis is committed to play next week’s event at Disney if his neck is good to go by next Thursday.

If not, current first alternate Aron Price will get the call.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Florida’s Gators fell to the Crimson tide of Alabama 38-10 on the gridiron on Oct. 1. The Gators have a chance for some revenge two Saturday’s later, this matchup occurring on the Seaside Course in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Former Gator, and SEC Champion Billy Horschel and Alabama graduate Michael Thompson, another former SEC Champion, tee off at 1:10 p.m. ET in Saturday’s final pairing at the McGladrey Classic. Horschel, at 12 under, leads Thompson and Webb Simpson by two shots.

Horschel and Thompson both competed in the 2007 SEC Championships at the Seaside Course with Thompson finishing T4 and Horschel T16, five shots behind him. Thompson entered the final day a shot behind Horschel, but his final-round 67 created a six-shot swing.

The two were back in the SEC Championships, this event at Frederica Golf Club (also in St. Simons Island) in 2008. Michael Thompson was the event medalist as his Crimson Tide rolled to an eight shot victory in the overall competition. Horschel, whose Gators came in fourth, was his school’s low-man finishing in a tie for 7th.

Thompson graduated after that championship, but Horschel returned in 2009 to claim medalist honors at Frederica. His 206-stroke total was two better than Thompson’s the previous year, but Horschel’s Gators finished third behind Georgia and Arkansas.

Who followed in Thompson’s footsteps as Alabama’s low scorer in 2009? Bud Cauley, who went out at 11:12 this morning and is currently tied for 43rd at Sea Island.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Much like playing partner and longtime rival Jonathan Byrd, Charles Howell III felt that he’d left a lot of shots on the Seaside Course in the first two rounds of the McGladrey Classic.

Howell had five bogeys in his first two rounds but had just one Saturday in a 4-under 66 that got him to 5 under for the week.

The 32-year-old, making his first start since the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, has made his last 14 cuts dating back to late May. That streak spans two majors, all four events of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and picked back up this week at Sea Island.

“This game, it’s hard to pinpoint (what’s changed),” Howell said. “But I’ve worked steady and I’ve worked hard this year. I made a switch to a belly putter around May and it’s helped me a bit. It’s helped my consistency. It’s such a fickle game, it’s hard to pinpoint it.”

During this stretch, Howell has picked up five top-10 finishes bringing his season total to seven. An eighth at Sea Island would be a new career high and Howell is hoping mother nature cooperates and helps him to be in position Sunday.

“We may get a bit of wind today,” Howell said. “There are some young guys atop the leaderboard. If they go out there and play well, they’ll pull away and make it harder to catch them. But I’d like to see the wind blow a bit more this afternoon to make it interesting.”

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Clean sheets aren’t just a key to victory on the soccer pitch. They’re also a major factor on the golf course.

Take Jonathan Byrd for example. The two-time PGA TOUR winner had eight birdies in his first two rounds, but entered the weekend at 1 under because of two double bogeys and three bogeys.

He had no such bumps in the road Saturday in his bogey-free 4-under 66 that moved him 46 spots up the leaderboard eary Saturday at Sea Island.

“I hadn’t been really clean out there the last couple days,” Byrd said. “I’ve had eight or nine birdies and coming into today at 1 under, I felt like I left a lot out there. Today, I was just trying to play a little more aggressive and keep things a little more mentally and physically clean out there. A clean scorecard is always a nice thing.”

For the third consecutive day, Byrd was grouped with Charles Howell III, who he has been golfing competitively against for two decades. Howell, like Byrd, entered the day at 1 under (six birdies and five bogeys in the first two rounds) but he posted a matching 66 Saturday.

“It’s kind of like playing with an old buddy,” Byrd said. “It’s pretty comfortable out there. We both played a little better today than we have been, so that was nice to see.”

Byrd, one of the many St. Simons Island residents in the field this week, left the course with the best score of the locals. Matt Kuchar and Lucas Glover are among those still on the course, though.

Byrd was asked about any kind of competition between the residents of this area playing on their hometown course.

“I think nobody would say it, but I think it’s going on all year long, not just this week,” Byrd said. “It’s all year long, who’s going to have the best season. I guess Kuchar’s still probably having the best season so far this year.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Trevor Immelman went 6 under over his last five holes Saturday to shoot an 8-under 62 and tie the tournament record in Round 3 of the McGladrey Classic. Immelman’s round moves him into third place behind leader Billy Horschel and Michael Thomspon. Horschel opened up a three-shot lead over Thompson […]