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The 19th hole

Vijay Singh's 69 put him in position to win his third major championship.

Justin Leonard's 70 left him a stroke behind Singh and in position for his first victory of the year. Phil Mickelson birdied three of the first four holes on the way to 67 that put him in a tie for third, four back.

Ernie Els let a good opportunity slip away. Tied for the lead when he made the turn, Els did not make a birdie on the back nine and slipped four shots behind the leaders. Everything was fine for Briny Baird - until the 17th hole. A wayward tee shot led to triple-bogey 6 and knocked him off the leaderboard. Stuart Appleby would be on the fringe of contention were it not for four strokes in penalties at the 16th hole.

"Herb thinks because he can't break 105, nobody should be able to break 105."

- PETE DYE, Whistling Straits designer on course owner Herb Kohler's dismay over the low scoring.

A SMALL HAVEN: Whistling Straits is in a town with just three businesses, one of the them the golf course. The others are Richo Structures and the Haven Bar & Grill. Haven has just 50 people, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and only about a dozen homes. "We live here because it's a nice, small community, and there are concerns that all of a sudden because of all the exposure there will be people interested in potentially moving here and living here," Lavonne Athorp said.

HARDER THAN IT LOOKS: Though there are numerous under-par scores, and Whistling Straits is not playing as difficult as players feared during the practice rounds, the course still is pretty stout. Just ask club pro Bruce Smith of Frisco, Texas, who shot consecutive 77s to miss the cut. "A zero-handicapper playing from these tees - if you're a scratch at your club and you come here, don't expect to shoot any lower than an 82," Smith said. "I'll give you four times around here (for practice) and you're still going to shoot that number. It's that tough."

Vijay Singh has won his past seven tournaments when holding or sharing the 54-hole lead.

No. 18, Par 4, 500 yards The brutal finishing hole, even in benign conditions, took its toll Saturday. Justin Leonard couldn't get up and down from a bunker, made bogey and dropped a shot behind leader Vijay Singh, who made a 4-footer for par to hold the 54-hole lead. Ernie Els and Stephen Ames, who were tied for third, also bogeyed, giving back a precious shot. Only five players birdied the hole during the third round, and none of them are in the top 10. The hole was the fourth-most difficult with a scoring average of 4.192.