Tour Report: Snedeker clubhouse leader at 12 under (PGATOUR.com)

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Brandt Snedeker shot a 7-under 64 Sunday at Harbour Town.

By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Brandt Snedeker posted a 7-under 64 Sunday at The Heritage, where he’s currently the leader in the clubhouse at 12-under 272.

Snedeker put himself in contention by shooting a 30 on the front nine, making six birdies and no bogeys. He had a couple of stumbles on the back, making bogeys at No. 13, where he missed his par putt from just inside seven feet, and No. 16, where he couldn’t get up and down from the bunker. But the Vanderbilt graduate hit his approach shot on the 18^th hole to within 12 feet and rolled in the birdie putt.

Snedeker kept the ball in play (12 of 14 fairways) and kept hitting Harbour Town’s small greens (15 of 18). He needed only 11 putts on the front nine.

Snedeker, who had off-season hip surgery, is looking for his first PGA TOUR victory since the 2007 Wyndham Championship. Snedeker has had four top-10s this year, including fourth-place finishes at the Transitions Championship and the Valero Texas Open. He tied for 15^th at the Masters.

Donald finally fails to birdie No. 9

The good news for Luke Donald is that he’s still tied for the lead as he makes the turn for the back nine at Harbour Town. The bad news is that he just failed to birdie the par-4 ninth hole for the first time all week, sliding his birdie attempt from just inside 10 feet past the hole.

As a result, Donald is 1 under on his round after three birdies and two bogeys. That’s the worst he’s played the front nine at Harbour Town all week.

Meanwhile, Donald’s co-leader, Ricky Barnes is 4 under through his first 10 with all his birdies coming in the first five holes.

Watch: Early highlights

Ricky Barnes didn’t waste any time moving into contention Sunday. He stuck his approach on No. 1 to set up this early birdie. Click here to watch

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

BARNES: The co-leader added to his score with this 22-footer for birdie. Click to watch

BRANDT SNEDKER: Snedeker capped his front-nine 30 with this birdie on No. 9. Click to watch

AARON BADDELEY: The Aussie chipped in for birdie on the par-5 second. Click to watch

What’s in store for Sunday?

By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — There’s only a slight breeze at Harbour Town today, unlike the gusts of 15-20 mph that prevailed on Saturday. If the wind remains minimal, conditions could be ideal for an exciting shootout in the final round of The Heritage.

There are 15 players bunched within five shots of leader Luke Donald, including defending champion Jim Furyk, who is one shot behind at 10 under.

“You can’t play protective golf, you have to go out there and try to win it, make some birdies and not try to hold on to that lead,” Donald said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be windy again, but the course is only getting harder and faster.”

“A good round by one of those people could separate themselves from the field,” Furyk said.

Donald has entered the final round with a lead on six occasions, with his only win coming at the 2006 Honda Classic. (He also led after 54 holes at the 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic and was declared the winner when the final round was cancelled due to bad weather.) Donald has four top-10s in his last five starts and will become the No. 1 ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking with a victory. Donald has history in his favor; the third-round leader has gone on to win nine of 16 events this year on the PGA TOUR.

Furyk won last year’s tournament at 13 under. He’s trying to become the 12^th champion to post all four rounds in the 60s. He’s shown that Furyk consistency all week, hitting 83.3 percent of fairways and 70.4 percent of greens in regulation, which both rank among the top five in the field. And Furyk has gone 254 holes at Harbour Town without a three-putt.

The duo at 9-under includes Brendon de Jonge and Scott Verplank. De Jonge must find a way to back up his 66 from Saturday; he’s searching for his first TOUR win. Verplank has good history at Harbour Town, with three top-10s.

Others who are expected to get involved in the action on Sunday include: Ricky Barnes and Tommy Gainey, who have shot identical rounds of 71-67-67 and are three shots behind Donald; Jason Day, whose mid-round stumble dropped him to 8-under; Pat Perez, who has shot 67 and 68 on consecutive days; and veteran Chris Couch, looking for his first win since 2006, and Jason Dufner, seeking his first TOUR win, both at 7-under.

Cink enjoys rare pairing

By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — They only live about 15 miles away from each other in the northern Atlanta suburbs, but Stewart Cink and Jason Bohn rarely play golf together. Usually it only occurs when they’re paired at a PGA TOUR event, as they were Sunday at The Heritage.

“We play every week, don’t we?” Cink joked. “At least we talk about playing every week. But I think we’ve done only done it once.”

Logistics and family commitments make it tough. They’re not always off the same week and each man has a wife and two children, as well as off-the-course business demands.

“It’s not always easy to set aside basically a whole day,” Cink said. “But we’ll get together, maybe play East Lake one day.”

The two colleagues had casual conversations around the course and seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Their results were good, too, as each man shot 67. Cink finished the tournament at 4-under 280, while Bohn birdied four of the last six holes, including the difficult 18^th, and finished at 281.

Cink changed his equipment this week, switching to a lighter shaft. The only clubs that didn’t change was the 3-wood and sand wedge. He was pleased with the changes, even though he wasn’t overwhelmed by his overall results.

Bohn was hoping the momentum he gained on Sunday will carry over to next week, when he defends his championship at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Snedeker makes turn in 30

If Luke Donald is going to win and reach No. 1 in the world and the FedExCp standings, he’s going to have to find a way to keep up with Brandt Snedeker, who just made the turn in 30 with seven birdies over his first nine holes.

That has Snedeker at 11 under for the tournament and just one shot back of Donald, who of course has an advantage having just teed off a little while ago.

In case you’re wondering, the course record at Harbour Town is a 61 by David Frost in the second round in 1994. He went on to tie for fourth.

Click here to follow the rest of Snedeker’s round live with Shot Tracker

Big moves being made early

With the wind down from Saturday and conditions ideal for scoring, a few players are taking advantage and making a big move up the leaderboard.

The biggest of those moves is coming from Brandt Snedeker, who is 5 under through his first seven holes and suddenly finds himself one shot of the lead as the final pairing gets set to tee off.

Like everyone else in contention this week, Snedeker has torn up the front nine at Harbour Town, where he’s a collective 12 under on the front side so far.

Snedeker isn’t the only one going low, though. Kevin Na just capped a 5-under 66 and earlier in the day the PGA TOUR’s youngest player, 20-year-old Bio Kim, carded a career-best 65.

Your open thread: The Heritage, Rd. 4

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Luke Donald can become No. 1 in the world with a win at Harbour Town.

Luke Donald begins the final round of The Heritage with a one-shot lead over Jim Furyk. If Donald wins, he’ll become No. 1 in the world and likely climb to the top of the FedExCup standings. If Furyk wins, it will give the reigning FedExCup champion his fourth win in a little over 12 months. Will one of them do it? Or will one of the 13 players within four shots of the lead rally to win? Discuss the final round here.

Preview | Live Scores | TOUR Report | Groups to watch

Tale of the tape: Furyk vs. Donald

Luke Donald and Jim Furyk will play in the final pairing of the day. It’s not the first time the two have gone head-to-head — though they obviously have plenty of company right behind them on the leaderboard.

Still, the two have put together remarkably similar stats this week (see chart below).

Jim Furyk vs. Luke Donald through three rounds