2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship Round 3
Irving, TX – Jason Day has the lead, but a high school student steals the show.
Jason Day hits a 3-under par 67 for a total of 12-under to lead the event. “I just wanted to try and stay patient with myself out there” said Day. “I knew that I wasn’t hitting it as great as I would like to. I wanted to just try and hit as many greens as I could and, you know, just give myself good putts. But with the wind today it was tough, a tough thing to do. I had four birdies, which was great, and I only had one bogey, and the bogey on the first was soft, actually I hit it on just short and it was an easy chip-and-run, and I hit it short and missed the putt, but overall happy with how I played, because 14 and 18 were unbelievable pars.”
Blake Adams started the day in the lead at -10, but ended the day in 2nd place, still with -10 after shooting even par for the round. “I didn’t play as well as I did the first two days, but I think the wind had a lot to do with that. It was in the 17, 18, 20 miles an hour, good gusts, and I didn’t have my best ball-striking day, but we got around the golf course and I shot even par, which isn’t great but it’s not the end of the world.”
In third place, at 9-under, is Jeff Overton, who had his worst round so far. Overton hit a 1-under 69.
Tied for 4th are two of the oldest PGA TOUR veterans, Kenny Perry and Tom Pernice, Jr. Ironically, Pernice, the oldest player in the field, was paired with the youngest, 16 year old Jordan Spieth.
Tied for 7th, but by far the biggest draw of the week, is Jordan Spieth, a 16 year old amateur from Dallas. The high school junior drew huge crowds all day on his way to a 3-under 67, giving him 6-under for the event. The buzz around Spieth has become so big that event organizers have announced that anyone who is 16 or under can get into the tournament free for the final round. Spieth enjoys the energy he gets from the gallery, “I thought going in I thought it would be extremely important to get the crowd into it early. Holed out a bunker shot on 1 and no better way to do it than to get the crowd into it like that, and it was a roar, and I’ve never heard anything like it, and it was special.”
Tom Pernice, Jr. noted the electric atmosphere as he and Spieth made their way around the course. “I think it may be one of the most exciting weeks for the people here in Dallas, and a lot of the people think that the field is not as strong or great as it has been in the past but there’s a bunch of other good players here, and Jordan is a young and upcoming kid that has a lot of talent and he’s a great kid, and he’s fired up the whole Dallas Metro area, and I think it’s wonderful.” Pernice continued, “He’s (Spieth) going to bring thousands and thousands of people out here to see the event and you don’t need Tiger and Phil always to have a great event, and it’s great to see it.”
See our Round 3 photo gallery.
