Rules review goes in Mark Wilson’s favor

Mark Wilson had a rough day Saturday.

It was almost a complete disaster.

Already struggling through the third round, Wilson found himself very nearly penalized 2 more strokes when he went to replace his marked ball in a sand trap on No. 14. He had marked the ball so playing partner Justin Rose, who was also in the trap, could hit his shot first.

When Wilson bent over to reset his ball, his club inadvertently touched the sand — and alarm bells went off.

But after further review — about 45 minutes worth — no penalty was assessed,

“The biggest thing was we just wanted to make sure we were doing it right, that he didn’t do anything to test the condition (of the sand),” said Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s lead rules official.

“There was certainly no way he was ever testing the surface,” Rose said. “I think that was the right decision.”

Heidi redux:Despite the leaders being midway through the 18th and final hole of the day, NBC still opted to cut to the Notre Dame-Michigan State game.One exasperated tournament official said, #147;It shows you what they think of us.#148;Here we go again:After his 4-under round Saturday, Luke Donald was asked about his past struggles at Dubsdread and couldn#146;t help but take another dig at the course in the process. #147;It#146;s a common theme for me here; I#146;ve had a lot of 25th-, 30th-place finishes on this course, and hopefully it#146;s the last time I#146;ll have to play it,#148; he said. #147;I think there are better places, better courses that better suit me.#148;Keeping the streak alive:Jim Furyk is one of just five players who have never missed a trip to Atlanta.He doesn#146;t want that number to dwindle.#147;Well, it#146;s fun to play well and it#146;s hard to not look at the scoreboard and see how things are going,#148; said Furyk, who is projected as 27th in playoff points. #147;Right now there#146;s a lot of jockeying for position. I got off to a real slow start but played pretty well on the way in. Tomorrow I need to go out and fire a good number.#148;Toughing it out:Despite not feeling up to par, Sergio Garcia went well below par (4 under) Saturday.But afterward he sounded less than thrilled about his round of 67.#147;I didn#146;t hit it well, I just didn#146;t play well, simple as that,#148; Garcia said. #147;It#146;s been a while since I#146;ve felt fresh. It#146;s been a long season, played a lot of tournaments the past 12 months, and unfortunately that#146;s the way this year has been. #147;Being outside the top 50, I#146;m going to have to play my way into some of the majors, so it#146;s been hard, but I#146;m looking forward to finishing.#148;He said it:#147;I#146;m English. I#146;m probably not the right guy to ask. #147;#8212; Luke Donald, on whether he#146;s pro-Notre Dame.