Late charge by Gillis leaves him two clear at Players Cup
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Tom Gillis birdied four of his final five holes Saturday to move into the lead after three rounds of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup. Gillis posted a 6-under 66 at the Pete Dye Golf Club to get to 13-under 203 and a one-stroke lead over Kyle Reifers (64) and Jeff Gove (68).Won Joon Lee (64) and Seung-su Han (66) share fourth place at 11-under 205. Texas rookie Jhonattan Vegas (65), Chris Baryla (68), Ron Whittaker (68) and second-round leader David Peoples (72) are tied for sixth place, three shots back after 54 holes.
The 40-year old Gillis was in comfort zone during the round, partly due to playing partner Bob May (71-209). The pair “played practice rounds together every Tuesday” when they spent a couple years together on the European Tour to close out the 1990s.
“It was fun. We talked about a lot of things not golf related. We have a lot of mutual friends,” said Gillis. “It didn’t feel like Tuesday. You’ve still got the nerves because way back in your mind you know every shot’s important.”
Gillis leads the Tournament with 23 birdies after peppering the Dye layout with nine on Saturday.
“I made a pact with myself this week that I wasn’t going to let things get me too up or too down,” he said. “There is a lot that’s gone on in the last week with our friend Chris Smith and I just kept thinking is it really worth it to get that upset.”
Smith, a five-time Nationwide Tour winner and a PGA Tour champion, has been on the minds of all players, caddies and officials following a tragic automobile accident last Sunday that claimed the life of his wife, Beth, and seriously injured the couple’s two children.
“It puts things in perspective,” said Gillis, a father of two. “It hits you pretty deep.”
Gillis has been nothing but steady during the first three days and ranks among the top-10 in fairways hit, greens in regulation and putting.
“The previous three or four Tournaments I was pushing too hard,” he said. “I wasn’t getting too much out of my rounds and so I have been trying to stay loose and let it go.”
So far it’s worked for the Michigan native, who bounced back from a double-bogey at No. 13 with a closing birdie push.
“It’s not a lot different than previous weeks except the bad shots aren’t lingering,” he said after hitting 16 of 18 greens. “You’ve got to keep gunning out here or you’re not going to win. You’re not going to back in to a win.”
Saturday was full speed ahead for many of the early starters, led by Reifers and Lee, who matched low rounds of the day with 8-under 64s.
“There are birdies out there,” said Reifers. “The set-up has a lot of risk-reward to it. It’s a crazy game.”
Reifers was crazy-good, starting off with six birdies on his opening eight holes.
“I played great and had a lot of fun,” said the 25-year old Charlotte, N.C. resident. “I hit it great. I putted great. I was in a zone. I felt a day like Saturday was coming. When you shoot a score like everything goes well.”
The year has been pretty good to Gove, who, at No. 8, is the highest-ranked player on the money list without a win in 2009. Gove birdied three of his first six but then settled for nine consecutive pars before a bogey at the par-3, 16th.
“I struggled with my speed in the middle of the round,” he said. “I had four putts that were about eight-to-ten inches combined, but they count the same as a 20-footer. I just kept reminding myself that I’m doing good things.”
The Pepperdine graduate rebounded with a 25-foot eagle putt at the par-5, 17th to close the distance on Gillis and get within one for Sunday’s race to the finish.
“I don’t think this course lends itself to hanging onto a lead,” he said, looking ahead to the finale. “It’s pretty much the same mind set, you have to attack the golf course. That’s kind of the way this Tour plays so often. We’re always bunched in tight. You can’t go out and shoot par and win.”
Third-Round Notes:
* The downhill par-4, 3rdhole play to a distance of 315 yards with a favorable front pin location. The result was five eagles and a scoring average of 3.352, making it the second-easiest hole of the day. In addition to the quintet of eagles, there were 38 birdies, 26 pars and only two bogies (Drew Laning, Henrik Bjornstad) recorded. In contrast, the downhill par-3, 7th hole measured out at 217 yards and was the second toughest hole on the course, with a scoring average of 3.282 after yielding only five birdies.
* Geoffrey Sisk had four 2’s on his third-round scorecard. Sisk birdied three of the par-3s and eagled the par-4, 3rd hole. Sisk shot a 4-under 68 and is 6-under for the first 54 holes.
* Scott Gardiner was the first off the tee and played as a single. Gardiner was 1-over through 14 holes but closed with a flourish. The Australian finished birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie for a round of 68.
* Saturday’s scoring average was 70.986.
* Sunday’s tee times will run from 7:00 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. with an expected finish time of 4:30 p.m. ET.
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