Morse still leads at Champions Q-School

Jerry Courville Jr. helped his cause a bit at Champions Tour Q-School on Thursday, shooting a 70 to climb to T-40 after three rounds, while the race for full 2009 exemptions tightened at TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Fla.

John Morse maintained the lead after 54 holes, despite shooting a two-over 74, and is at six-under 210, only one stroke ahead of Robert Thompson. With the day's best round, a 65, Tom McKnight pulled into T-3 with Jay Don Blake at 212. Ronnie Black, Tim Conley, James Mason and David Ogrin are T-5 at 213.

Twenty-four golfers are within nine shots of the lead, but the magic number is five â¿¿ that being how many full exemptions will be awarded at the end of 72 holes. Another seven players will earn conditionally-exempt status, while the top 30 will be eligible for weekly qualifying.

-- Bill Fields