No breathing room atop the leaderboard at Memorial Health Championship
Rob Oppenheim had the round of a lifetime on Saturday at the Memorial Health Championship at Panther Creek Country Club.
But the 42-year-old veteran of the Korn Ferry Tour only pulled into a tie despite an 11-under-par 60 in the third round. Oppenheim, who had two eagles on the back nine and filled his card with all 3s en route to a score of 9-under 27 after the turn, is tied with Austin Eckroat at 21-under par for the tournament.
"I made the turn, I looked at the leaderboard and I saw a lot of the guys were going low," Oppenheim said. "The greens are pretty soft and it's hot, so the ball is flying far and there's plenty of birdies out there.
"I knew I had to pick it up, hit some shots close. Coming down the stretch, I realized I had all 3s (on the back nine) and it was kind of fun making a 15-foot putt on the last hole to shoot nine straight 3s. It was one of those nights where the hole looked real big."
Eckroat, who entered weekend play with a one-stroke lead over Patrick Newcomb, made pars on his first nine holes before carding a 7-under 29 on the back nine.
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With five golfers at 20-under or better and four more golfers within four strokes of the lead, Eckroat knows he can't play it safe on Sunday.
"If you have lead going into Sunday, sometimes you're just trying not to make bogeys but out here, that's not the case," Eckroat said. "If you don't make birdies, you're going to fall back. Even with a lead, you're going to be attacking the pins."
Asked if he's ever been 21-under par without a comfortable lead, Eckroat laughed and said, "I don't think I've ever been at minus-21, honestly."
Paul Haley II joined a trio of golfers at 20-under when he eagled the No. 18 hole by draining it from 175-yards out with a 7-iron. He finished Saturday with a 10-under 61.
Patrick Newcomb, who came in Saturday trailing Eckroat by a stroke, had his second straight 64 with consecutive birdies on No. 18. But he knows he left a stroke out there with a bogey on the par-3 No. 17.
"Twenty-under par for three rounds, you can't be upset that at all," Newcomb said. "I'm more upset about making a loose mental setup on the par-3. I should've just put it on the green but I made a bad swing with a bad thought process — it was all bad — and I made a bogey."
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Augusto Nunez joined Haley and Newcomb in a tie for third place with a 10-under on Saturday. He had 11 birdies in the round.
"I've felt comfortable all week, I've been hitting it good off the tee (and) the putter is cooperating right now but I left a little out there," Nunez said through a translator. "I just have to focus on my routine and hit my spots and just enjoy the game of golf."
The play of the game came from Cody Gribble, who made an albatross on the 506-yard, par-5 No. 16 hole from 215 yards out. That came just after he eagled No. 15.
“Played well all week," said Gribble, who sits 17-under and tied for eighth. "I'm hitting the ball well today. I was just lucky. There was one lady standing behind the hole going nuts. I thought I couldn’t possibly have two hole-outs in a row, but sure enough.
"I hadn’t had a hole-out in I don’t know how long, but sure enough, the next hole I had another hole-out."
Because of rain in the forecast, the final round field is split to tee off between Nos. 1 and 10. The first groups will tee off at 8 a.m. The leaders, Oppenheim, Eckroat and Haley, will tee off on No. 1 at 10:10 a.m. Nunez, Newcomb and Michael Kim (19-under) will tee off at 10 a.m. on No. 1.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Memorial Health Championship: Many in contention ahead of final round
