OLIVER PAIPOONGE -- In his first professional start earlier this year in Victoria, Taylor Moore finished solo second.
A 30-foot eagle putt on 18 on Saturday has the former Arkansas Razorback golfer in position to do one better at the Staal Foundation Open.
The 21-year-old holds a one-shot lead over Tain Lee, the 36-hole leader, heading into Sunday’s final round, his six under 66 giving him a three-day 204 total.
A trio of golfers are a shot back of Lee at 206, including Canadian Corey Conners, who will play in the final group on Sunday, England’s David Skinns and American Cameron Peck.
The eagle dropping was unexpected, but certainly a welcome end to his round, said Moore, who entered play three shots off Lee’s pace.
“I was just trying to lag it down the hill and get another going into tomorrow and it happened to fall in. It was a nice bonus,” Moore said.
The San Angelo, Texas native said he’s going to try to avoid watching the leaderboard on Sunday as he seeks his first professional win.
“They’re out there, but I’m just trying to take it one shot at a time and stick to the game plan, add them up at the end,” said Moore, one of just two golfers to record an eagle at the easily accessible 18th pin, which proved to be a birdie magnet all day long.
Like Moore, Lee had an eagle putt for a chance to take the outright lead after 54 holes, but he slid it past the hole six feet and failed to make the comeback attempt and settled for par.
He wound up with a two under 70, a double bogey on the par 3 fifth not helping the cause.
Still, he’s happy with his position.
“It’s always good to be in the final group. I think today was playing really difficult. Those eight unders, I don’t know what tee time they were playing at, but I didn’t see that score out there myself,” said Lee, admitting the double threw him off his game for a while.
Conners and American Brett Lederer were the golfers Lee was referring to, each with eight under 64s, two off the course record set last year by Sweden's Krister Eriksson.
Conners, the top Canadian at the Staal Foundation Open, said the key to his game was converting the birdie chances that came his way.
“I hit a lot of nice iron shots, made a couple of really nice par saves and it was a great day out there, a lot of fun,” said Conners, who finished third in last year’s Thunder Bay stop.
“I really like how difficult it is off the tee and into the green. It really rewards good ball striking, which is one of my strengths.”
Conners also had the guidance of Barry Caland – a multiple time club champion at Whitewater – on his bag.
“Barry’s a legend around here. He knows he course really well and we’ve had a great time out there every day. He’s really helpful knowing the golf course.”
Peck, who will play in the penultimate group, parred his first hole than strung together a six-hole stretch that included four birdies and an eagle, leading to a seven under 65 and a share of third.
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well. The first two days I kind of wasn’t making too many putts, but they were falling today.”
To combat potential weather issues on Sunday, tee times have been pushed ahead. Golfers will tee off between 7:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. in threesomes, with closing ceremonies expected to take place at about 2:30 p.m.
Original story indicated 64 was the tournament record, when in fact it was 62.
