SURREY, B.C. -- One reason why Australian Peter Lonard has not missed a single cut in his rookie year on the PGA Tour is his ability to make eagles.
Lonard recorded two eagles in the third round of the Air Canada Championship. The first came on the par-5 seventh hole, the only eagle of the day recorded on that hole, and one on the par-5 12th. The holes played as the 17th and 18th toughest Saturday and for the week.
In three rounds at the 12th, Lonard has gone eagle-birdie-eagle. He leads the field with three eagles this week.
The trio of eagles ties Lonard for third with Phil Mickelson in eagles converted in 2002 with 13. But with another good day Sunday, Lonard could tie or overtake co-leaders J.J. Henry and Jonathan Byrd, who both have 14 eagles.
CLARKE ON THE MOVE: On the strength of a five-birdie, one-bogey performance, Darren Clarke made the biggest rise on Moving Day. The Northern Ireland native started the third round tied for 38th and moved into a tie for seventh.
This week, Clarke has had exceptional success on the opening holes of the second nine. He's 8-under on holes 10 through 13 alone, including four consecutive birdies on those holes Saturday. His 16 birdies tie him for second most in the field.
TOUGHER COURSE: Three players carded 5-under rounds of 66 Saturday: leader Gene Sauers, Clarke and Brandt Jobe, who moved from a tie for 51st into the top 10.
That's four strokes off the 62 recorded by Robert Allenby in the second round and even one higher than the 65 that David Frost had in the first round. For the field, 71.11 was the average Saturday, compared to 71.05 Friday.
Generally, scoring average goes down for the weekend, when the struggling players have missed the cut and gone home.
MAPLE LEAF RAG: Five players with Canadian ties remain in the field. Excluding Stephen Ames -- born in Trinidad and Tobago and now a Canadian resident -- Glen Hnatiuk, Mike Weir, Ian Leggatt and Dave Barr all struggled in the third round.
The lowest Canadian, Hnatiuk, is in a tie for 50th after shooting an even-par round of 71. Weir shot a 3-over 74 to drop into a tie for 66th, while Leggatt had a 75 to tie for 75th. And 50-year-old Barr, who has competed on the PGA Tour, Senior Tour and Buy.com Tour this year, ballooned to an 80 to finish the day last in the field.
