PODS Championship round three: Is it a Woods? Is it a Furyk? No, it's Birdieman!

I came across a punter Saturday complaining that his money was solidly on joint leaders Mark Calcavecchia and Heath Slocum, plus fourth-placed Brian Gay. The reason for his angst was the money was on last week, when all three missed the cut at the Honda Classic. Go figure!

It’s not too hard to fathom: they don’t do wind, last week’s dominant factor. Clearly, though, they do tough rough, narrow fairways and fast greens. Now why didn’t I spot that?

I fancied Slocum last week, but because he bombed I left him alone this time, even though his stats still looked handy - ninth for putting and seventh for accuracy off the tee. There’s a lesson in that somewhere: I think it’s about keeping the faith.

Still, what a spanking round from Calcavecchia - he one-putted 11 greens! There’s obviously something about getting on these fairways nice and early. Remember how Cliff Kresge burst forth with an early morning 6 under on Thursday?

But how aggravating for number-crunchers like myself. There’s nothing in my stats that allows for Calcs buying a $256 putter on a whim that, literally overnight, transforms him from Bogeyman to Birdieman. He himself admits he had packed his bags ready for a missed cut after Thursday’s 75.

Sunday the market is having difficulty choosing between the top three, with defending champion K J Choi (4.1) given the edge over Slocum (4.7) and Calcs (5.1). It’s not that simple.

With tougher pin positions and even firmer greens, we might not see Calcs’ course record 62 again, but there are enough sharp players within range to make things interesting. It only needs one or two to take an aggressive tilt at the top to turn Sunday into a dogfight.

Calcs’ got the huge experience - 12 times a Tour winner - and, obviously, a really hot putter. Choi is not going to relinquish his title without a fight, although the course has given him more difficulty this year. Slocum has been getting better each round.

Weak iron play could be Gay’s undoing and, although Lucas Glover’s seven birdies Saturday show much-improved putting, I suspect other weaknesses could hold him back. But then you’ve got Mr Ultra-consistent Chris DiMarco. His approach work leads the field and he says the faster the greens the better. And don’t discount Zach Johnson. He may be four back, but his stats have been getting progressively better each round too.

Maybe Calcavecchia’s nine-under isn’t the last surprise of this tournament.