The Barclays Leaderboard: Phil Mickelson, Kevin Stadler Making Early Moves

The third round of The Barclays is underway at Bethpage Black, and the bottom half of the leaderboard is looking to make a charge on moving day to stay alive in the FedEx Cup.

Kevin Stadler has set the pace so far, carding birdies on five of the first eight holes to move a whopping 37 spots up the leaderboard. He is just two shots back of leaders Nick Watney and Sergio Garcia. Stadler, son of The Walrus, has had his moments on Tour over the past few years, but he has yet to capture a win on the American Tour. His blistering start has fans and pundits on “30 watch” as he approaches the turn. At 6-under, he’s now in contention with 27 holes to play.

One of the other big movers Saturday morning is Phil Mickelson, who’s taking advantage of the more benign Bethpage setup. Mickelson is much further along in his round than Stadler, but he’s still back in the hunt at 4-under. Through 15 holes, Lefty has made only one bogey and converted five birdies to move into the top 15. He’s certainly not in danger of missing out on a trip to Boston, but the New York City favorite always tries to put on a show for the local fans.

Another superstar who started his day at even-par was Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman struggled on Friday and finished with a 73, but it looked like he was making a charge a la Mickelson. Young Rory made back-to-back bogeys to start his inward nine and is now just 2-under, six shots back of the leaders.

As Stadler has demonstrated, low numbers are available, and there will likely be plenty of movement and jostling atop the leaderboard on a potentially wild Saturday.

For live Barclays leaderboard, visit Golf.com.

Stay with this StoryStream for news and updates throughout the week at Bethpage. For all your golf news during the 2012 FedEx Cup, visit SB Nation’s golf hub.