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.
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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
| Stat | Furyk | Donald |
| Putting average | 1.632 (10th) | 1.622 (8th) |
| Greens in regulation | 38 of 54 (T5) | 37 of 54 (T13) |
| Fairways hit | 35 of 42 (T3) | 34 of 42 (T6) |
What’s in store for Sunday?
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
HILTON HEAD, 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 12th 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.
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Tour Report: Big moves being made early (PGATOUR.com)