THUNDER BAY – Blake Olson stands alone atop a crowded Staal Foundation Open leaderboard.
But there’s not much room to give.
Playing in the final group of the day, the Florida-born golfer carded a 3-under 69 on Saturday at Whitewater Golf Club to take a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final round over Australian Brett Coletta, his Round 3 playing partner.
Olson, who is 17-under 199 after three rounds, was even par at the turn, countering a pair of birdies on the front with a pair of bogeys, but turned things on during his final nine.
The 27-year-old birdied four holes, none more important that the 16th, coming off a bogey on the par 3 15th.
“It was pretty key, but I wasn’t in any panic mode,” said Olson, who is seeking his first Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada triumph.
“It played tough this afternoon. If you look at anybody who played the last five groups, it was a grind. It wasn’t nearly as easy as the morning.”
Being in the final group on Sunday is a great place to be, he added.
“My name was on top of the leaderboard yesterday, it was on the top of leaderboard today. I’m just going to look to have some fun tomorrow to see if we can keep it there,” said Olson, who closed with a birdie on 18 to give himself the outright lead.
Coletta was one shot better on the day, recording a 4-under 68 and will play with Olson again on Sunday, with a three-day total of 200, 16-under par.
“We’re just going to be going all for it, I guess. It was switching pretty hard out there. There are a lot of two-shot swings out there. So I’m feeling there might be a few more out there tomorrow. We’re going to roll up and see what happens,” said Coletta, one of nine golfers with three rounds in the 60s.
It was a back-to-back birdie finished that landed him in solo second.
“I hit good swings the whole way in and I just capitalized on those last couple of holes. I hit a really good pitch shot into 17 that nearly went in. I hit a really good drive down 18 that left me nothing into the last. I wanted to make one of the two at least, but I got double, so it was good,” Coletta said.
Kansas native Michael Gellerman, who started the day five shots off the pace, clawed to within two with a bogey-free 6-under 66.
“I played really well all day, hit it well,” Gellerman said. “I got a ton of looks and that pretty much was key.”
He’ll be paired with fellow American Ben Griffen in the fourth round, who shot 6-under 66 on Saturday and is three off the lead at -14.
Gellerman likes his chances.
“Shoot that’s what we practice, that’s what we play for. That’s why we show up,” he said.
Riley Wheeldon jumped nine spots up the leaderboard on Day 3, and at 13-under, 203, is the top Canadian in the field, one shot up on Victoria’s Jake Duvall two shots better than Kitchener’s Michael Giglic and Calgary’s Jared du Toit.
Fourth-round tee times have been moved up an hour and will begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday, because of a pending threat of bad weather. The golf is expected to wrap up around 4:30 p.m.
