Sean O'Hair keeps battling

The medical report on Sean O'Hair for the week at the AT&T National has included a bad back and a sinus infection, but the West Chester resident keeps battling.

O'Hair matched Aronimink Golf Club's par 70 Saturday for a 54-hole score of 1-under 209, putting him in a tie for 20th place, while trying not to think about his back.

"The left side hurt [Saturday], when actually it's been the right side the whole week so I don't know what the deal is with that," he said. "But I don't think it affected the ball-striking or how I played or anything like that.

"I've got really bad sinuses right now. I got it at Pebble [at the U.S. Open], and I almost went blind out there [Friday]; I couldn't see. It hasn't been a good week health-wise, but it's OK."

O'Hair had two bogeys and two birdies, and putting once again was an issue. His only makes for birdie were from 14 feet at No. 9 and 19 inches at No. 11.

"I'm not making anything," he said. "It's frustrating because I know these greens. I haven't seen these pins really too much. But it's frustrating because I'm hitting good putts and I'm all over the hole. Today I wasn't over the hole as much as I was the last two days but I still had a lot of putts around the hole."

O'Hair said he is going to remain patient with one day left and try to shoot as low a number as he can.

"I'm not letting it get to me too much," he said. "But is it frustrating at the end of the day? Yeah, it is, because I'm probably hitting the ball as good as anybody out here this week, especially with the way my body feels and everything. The putter's just keeping me out of it."

When Jim Furyk holed a birdie putt at the first hole Saturday, the crowd reacted with loud applause and encouraging shouts, cheering on a guy who once called West Chester and Lancaster home.

"It's fun," Furyk said after a 69 put him in a ninth-place logjam at 208. "I've had a ton of support. I have an event at home, the Players [in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.], but rarely do I get to feel like it's a week at home and have that much support. I hope everyone knows that I appreciate it."

As for his round, which was the 1,500th of his tour career, Furyk thought he struck the ball better. He carded three birdies but wanted more.

"There's not a lot of birdies out there," he said. "I haven't found too many. The good news is, again, only a couple of bogeys. I think I've only made five bogeys for the week, which is super, but I'm just not making enough birdies. But I felt like I played better today. It was a positive step."

Justin Rose, the 54-hole leader, couldn't find a place in his schedule to participate in a qualifier for the British Open, either in the United States or the United Kingdom, but he appears to be in, anyway.

Rose heads a cumulative money list of five PGA Tour events, from The Players Championship up to and including the AT&T National, for players not previously eligible for the Open at St. Andrews. The top two get in.

The players behind Rose are Bubba Watson (not here), Rickie Fowler (missed cut), and Ricky Barnes (tied for 33d).

Bo Van Pelt, who fired a 70 and is 7 shots off Rose's lead, is the son of Bob Van Pelt, the Eagles' fifth-round pick in the 1967 draft. (He never played for the Birds.)

"It's cool that he was drafted by the team, a great organization with a lot of history," Van Pelt said. "It's so good to be here."

The attendance was announced at 45,231, bringing the week's total to 156,761, which gives the event a good chance of breaking the record for a full week, 194,073, set last year at Congressional Country Club, the tournament's original home in Bethesda, Md. . . . The stroke average for the third round was 71.141, with the par-4 third hole (4.408) being the toughest, and the par-5 16th (4.465) being the easiest. Eighteen sub-par scores were posted, bringing the total for the event to 82. . . . Webb Simpson shot a very interesting 68 - one eagle (at No. 6, where he holed out an 88-yard second shot) and 17 pars.