Jun. 19—University of Georgia golfer Trent Phillips began the third round of the 68th Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions in a tie for fifth place.
He ended a nearly bogey-free round on a windy Friday afternoon in sole possession of first place and a one-stroke advantage heading into Saturday’s final round.
“Just try to keep it underneath the hole,” said Phillips, of Inman, South Carolina. “I thought I did a great job of that today. Just keeping the ball in the right spots, giving myself uphill looks.
“I made a few. I missed a few.
“I’ll try to do the same thing (Saturday). I just put myself in spots where I can 2-putt easily. If they fall, then great. If not, you kind of move on.”
Phillips made more than he missed. He opened with a birdie on the first hole and added two more birdies on 4 and 8 to make the turn at 3-under 32.
On the back nine, Phillips had birdies on 10 and 12 before his only bogey of the day on the par-3 No. 16.
“Just a little 3-putt. It happens out here,” Phillips said. “I just kind of got on the wrong side of the hole,” Phillips said.
“It was into the wind, downhill, kind of hard to judge.
“Other than that I played a great round and feel pretty good about tomorrow.”
Phillips is 7-under 203 after shooting a 4-under 66 on Friday. He has been under par all three rounds, including a 69 on the first day and a 68 in the second round.
Second-round leader Karl Vilips, a Stanford golfer from Perth, Western Australia, is one stroke back at 6-under 204.
Vilips made four bogeys on the first seven holes in the third round but recovered with an eagle on the par-5 11th hole and birdies on 12 and 17.
He had one more bogey, on No. 14.
“I didn’t really reset anything. I just didn’t have any putts going in,” Vilips said. “I was hitting quality shots, just not starting on the right spot, especially off the tee.
“I just had to tell my caddy I need to revisualize everything before I hit and commit to my shots. I wasn’t very committed on that front nine. I was nervous, I would say.
“Once I started doing that I was executing well and had a good back (nine).”
Notre Dame player Palmer Jackson of Murrysville was among three players tied for third place after the third round. The Franklin Regional High School graduate shot a 64 on Friday and is at 4-under 206.
Jackson had birdies on the first four holes of his round and had another string of three straight birdies on 11, 12 and 13.
He also had birdie putts on 9 and 17 as well as bogeys on 5, 10 and 18.
Also tied for third are Liberty University’s Jonathan Yaun, who shot a 65 on Friday, and University of South Carolina’s Ryan Hall, who had a 66.
University of Texas’ Travis Vick, University of Oklahoma’s Logan McAllister and Duke University’s Ian Siebers each are tied for sixth at 3-under 207.
University of Illinois’ Jerry Ji and North Carolina State’s Max Steinlechner are tied for ninth at 2-under 208.
Four golfers are tied for 11th at 1-under, and eight players are tied for 15th at even par through three rounds.
Defending champion Preston Summerhays shot a 68 on Friday and is tied for 23rd at 1-over 211.
Area golfter Brock Matava, 27, did not make the cut of the top-50 players and ties. The United High School graduate shot a 77 on Friday after posting a first-round 77 and second-round 75.
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.