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• Jerry Kelly/Steve Stricker snatched a one stroke lead after 36-holes of The Franklin Templeton Shootout when Stricker holed an eight-foot putt for birdie at the final hole. The pair lead at 13-under 131 over J.B. Holmes/Kenny Perry, Steve Flesch/Dustin Johnson and Justin Leonard/Scott Verplank, all at 12-under 132.
• Jerry Kelly/Steve Stricker combined for six birdies on the back nine, including a chip-in birdie each - Kelly at No. 13 and Stricker at No. 15.
• The Jerry Kelly/Steve Stricker combination is the only team in this week's field with both players posting victories on the PGA TOUR this season. Kelly won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Stricker posted three victories at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, John Deere Classic and Deutsche Bank Championship.
• Justin Leonard/Scott Verplank (2006-2nd) and Jerry Kelly/Steve Stricker (2008-T5) are the only two teams this year who have previously teamed together at The Franklin Templeton Shootout.
• 2009 marks the second time Justin Leonard/Scott Verplank have played as a team at The Franklin Templeton Shootout. The pair lost a playoff to Jerry Kelly/Rod Pampling in 2006 at Tiburon Golf Club. They also played Foursomes and Four-ball together at the 2005 Presidents Cup with a 2-1-1 record.
• J.B. Holmes/Kenny Perry were 4-under through 10 holes Saturday before Holmes holed a 12-foot putt for birdie at No. 12 to start a stretch of outstanding play. The team also added birdies at holes 13, 14 and 15 before Holmes hit a 188-yard 7-iron to three feet at the par-5 17th hole and made the putt for eagle. A solid par at No. 18 earned them a 7-under 29 on the homeward nine and a round of 10-under 62.
• J.B. Holmes' eagle at the par-5 17th hole was the only eagle scored on Saturday.
• J.B. Holmes is making his third appearance at The Franklin Templeton Shootout having finished T6 in 2006 with John Daly and second last year with Boo Weekley. Holmes and Weekley also partnered each other in the Four-Ball format for two days at the 2008 Ryder Cup going undefeated.
• Steve Flesch finds himself one stroke off the lead after replacing an injured Fred Couples on Tuesday this week. Flesch teamed with Franklin Templeton Shootout rookie Dustin Johnson to birdie the last three holes and jump into a tie for second at 12-under 132.
• Just seven players have won The Franklin Templeton Shootout in their first attempt: Mark O'Meara (1989), Curtis Strange (1989), Fred Couples (1990), Scott McCarron (1997), Hank Kuehne (2003), Rod Pampling (2006) and Woody Austin (2007). Six players are hoping to join that group this week, including first-timers Tim Clark, Brian Gay, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, George McNeill and Ross Fisher.
• Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher each won tournaments on different Tours on the first day of November this year. Poulter won the Barclays Singapore Open on the Asian PGA Tour, while Fisher prevailed at the Volvo World Match Play at Finca Cortesin on the European Tour.
• Chris DiMarco/Rickie Fowler and Ross Fisher/Ian Poulter are tied for fifth at 10-under. The Fisher (12)/Poulter (18) team has a combined Official Work Ranking of 30 while the DiMarco (326)/Fowler (262) team has a combined ranking of 588.
• South African Tim Clark and Texan Chad Campbell both joined the PGA TOUR in 2002 after playing on the Nationwide Tour. On Friday, the pair struggled on the par-5s playing them 1-over. The trend continued Saturday with a bogey at the par-5 first hole. They did manage birdies, however, at the par-5 6th and 17th holes.
• George McNeill and Jeff Sluman can be considered the "home-town favorites" this week. McNeill was a former assistant professional at Forest CC in Fort Myers and still resides in that nearby city. Sluman was a former resident of Naples where his father still resides. Both McNeill and Sluman played on the golf team at Florida State University.
• The lowest round recorded in Better Ball at The Franklin Templeton Shootout is 57 by Craig Stadler/Lanny Wadkins in 1996. In 2001, John Daly/Frank Lickliter posted 59, the lowest Better Ball score at Tiburon Golf Club since the event relocated to this venue that same year.
• Tournament host Greg Norman started the participants in a 5K race which commenced at 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning and finished prior to the start of tournament play. More than 400 participants completed the self-contained course within the Tiburon Golf Club community. The winner was 24-year-old Jesse Armbruster from Bucyrus, OH in a time of 15 minutes and 18 seconds. Proceeds from the race will directly benefit CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation, the Shootout's primary charitable beneficiary.
• The best turnaround on Saturday belonged to Brad Faxon/Matt Kuchar posting a 10-under 62 following their first-round 73, an improvement of 11 strokes. At 9-under 135 they'll enter the final round in eighth place and four shots behind Kelly/Stricker.
• In Friday's first round, Brad Faxon/Matt Kuchar began with back-to-back double bogeys. After bogeying the par-5 opening hole on Saturday Faxon/Kuchar recorded seven 3s over their next eight holes for an outward nine of 4-under 32. The team posted a five at the par-5 6th hole.
• The oldest and youngest winners on the 2009 PGA TOUR are playing this week, although not on the same team. Kenny Perry was 48 years, 10 months, 18 days when he won for the second time this year at the Travelers Championship while Dustin Johnson was 24 years, 7 months, 4 days when he posted his second career victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
• Nine of the 12 teams posted bogey-free rounds on Saturday compared to none during Friday's first round.
• Saturday's final grouping of Justin Leonard/Scott Verplank and Jerry Kelly/Steve Stricker have represented the United States a total of 17 times in major team competitions - six times at the Ryder Cup and 11 times at the Presidents Cup. Leonard accounts for the most appearances by the group - three at the Ryder Cup and five at the Presidents Cup.
• Sunday's television coverage will be on NBC at 3-6 p.m. EST.
• The format for the second-round was Best Ball. Each player plays through every hole using his own ball. The player whose score is the lowest on each hole will be the team score for that hole. Sunday will feature the Scramble format.
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