July 30, 2007

OMAHA, Neb. - Former Auburn All-American Roland Thatcher maintained his lead on Saturday at the $650,000 Cox Classic with a 3-under 68 to move to 18-under par 195, two shots ahead of B.J. Staten (64) and three ahead of 19-year-old Jason Day, who had a 9-under 62, Ron Whittaker (63), Kelly Grunewald (65) and Scott Sterling (69).

"I"ve got a lot of people behind me with a realistic shot at winning the tournament," said Thatcher, a 30-year-old resident of The Woodlands, Texas. "I"m certainly not going to win making pars tomorrow. But I"m definitely in an enviable position. I"d certainly like to have a bigger lead, but I wouldn"t trade with anyone."

Thatcher was a second-team All-America selection and won the SEC Individual Championship in 2000. He was a 1999 All-America scholar and was a four-time Academic SEC Honor Roll member from 1997-2000.

He has not posted a bogey since the fourth hole on Thursday " a span of 50 bogey-free holes. If he can continue that consistency on Sunday, he may be hard to beat.

"Not giving up a lot of shots was a big key today," said Thatcher, who hit 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. "There is no such thing as an uncomfortable lead, but I"m a little disappointed in how I played today. I had very few opportunities to make bogey, but I let some really good birdie opportunities slip through my fingers.

"Not giving up a lot of shots was a key, especially when you have a lead. You don"t want to give any shots back, but going out and parring all the par 5s and the two driveable par 4s, which I did, is really the difference between me having a really comfortable lead today and me going to have to play really well tomorrow."

Being in the final pairing will be familiar territory for Thatcher. Most recently, he was in the final group during his victory at the Peek"n Peak Classic July 2, as well as at the Henrico County Open where he fell in a playoff to Nick Flanagan.

"I was much more comfortable (in the final group) the second time than I was the first time," said Thatcher, currently No. 3 on the official money list with $254,204 in earnings this year. "Hopefully I"ll be that much more comfortable this time."

Should Thatcher join Flanagan in the two-win club this season, he"ll have to contend with one of the hottest players on Tour. Day posted a bogey-free 9-under 62 to move into contention, set up by a tournament-record tying 7-under-par 28 on the front nine (his back nine after beginning the day on No. 10) at the par-71 Champions Run.

"Eight threes today on the front nine " I couldn"t believe it myself," said Day, the winner a few weeks ago at the Legend Financial Group Classic. "I parred the two par-5s on my (front nine) which wasn"t too good. But I fired it up on the back nine."

Day, who made the turn at 2-under, sat at just 3-under on his round through 12 holes. That is where the Aussie made his move " playing the last six holes at 6-under, thanks in large part to a perfectly struck 2-iron from 270 yards on the par-5 sixth hole. He converted the 18-foot eagle putt to inch closer to Thatcher"s lead.

"All I was thinking about was I was only 2-under through nine holes," said Day, who sits No. 6 on the money list. "Then I went nuts on the last six holes. This course sets up so well for me. I"m setting myself up for a really good finish this week. Hopefully I"ll keep making birdies."

The fourth and final round of the Cox Classic will be televised live on The Golf Channel from noon-3 pm Central.

Third Round News & Notes:

Jason Day's 7-under 28 on the front nine at Champions Run equals the low nine-hole score of the season (Andrew Johnson during the second round of the Movistar Panama Championship). A 28 has been posted three previous times at Champions Run, with Jason Gore accounting for two of those during the second and fourth rounds in 2005. Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, playing this week through a sponsors exemption due to Big Break VII victory on the GOLF Channel, moved to 12-under thanks to a 4-under 67. The 54-hole leader has gone on to win 12 of 19 events this season. The 54-hole leader at the Cox Classic has gone on to win four of 11 72-hole events " The third-round scoring average was 67.758, shattering the previous low average at the Cox Classic, which came during the third round in 2003 (69.041). The previous lowest scoring average this season came during the third round of the Fort Smith Classic (68.985). There were 11 bogey-free rounds on Saturday, bringing the total for the week to 38. Sunday's winner will take home $117,000.