Moving day at the 110th Southwestern Amateur lived up to its name on Friday, with new leaders emerging in both the men’s and women’s divisions. On the women’s side, the Pimchompoo Chaisilpringruang of Thailand and the University of North Carolina Charlotte fired a 3-under round to take a two-shot lead heading into the final day. In the men’s division, Hartej Grewal of the University of California Riverside surged to 10 under with a 5-under third round.
Chaisilpringruang began the day seven shots off the lead and struggled to find her rhythm early, opening with a string of pars and a lone bogey on No. 6. But she caught fire on the back nine with birdies on four of five holes from Nos. 12 to 16 — highlighted by a 70-foot putt.
“I got so lucky today,” Chaisilpringruang said. “I holed out a 70-foot putt and that made me feel so happy.”
Chaisilpringruang leads Amy DeKock of the University of Kansas and 16-year-old Kaili Xiao of China by two strokes.
The shot of the day was turned in by overnight leader Maria Eidhagen Harrouch of Morocco and the University of Georgia, who aced the 12th hole from 170 yards.
“I was a little in between clubs, but I decided to go with my 9-iron,” Eidhagen Harrouch said. “I hit a really good shot, and I didn’t see it go in and no one reacted, so I was like, ‘Okay, it’s probably going to be pretty close.’ Then I come up to the green and I’m like, ‘I don’t see my ball,’ and then I just run to the hole and find it — and it was in the hole.”
Eidhagen Harrouch started the day with a five-shot lead but she got into big trouble at the par-5 2nd hole, making a 9 and eventually losing her lead. The ace and a birdie two holes later put her back on top, but she dropped three strokes coming in and fell into a five-way tie for fourth, three shots back at 3 under.
In the men’s division, several players posted low rounds and made big moves up the leaderboard, but it was Grewal’s clean scorecard, with five birdies, that erased a five-shot deficit and separated himself from the pack. After being in the hunt for the first two days, Grewal’s patience paid off.
“I actually felt really confident on the third day. The first two days taught me how to read the greens and to keep the ball in play, so all I did was hit the fairways, hit the greens, stayed patient and made putts,” Hartej said. “My mentality is really good. I’m really confident right now because I love the course, I like how it’s playing and it’s setting up really nicely for me, too.”
Another low round came from Matthew Javier of Canada and the University of Southern Mississippi, who jumped into second place with a 6-under 66. Tied with him at 9 under is Parker Paxton of the University of Colorado.
The round of the day was an 8-under 64 from James Watney of Fresno State, which tied Tyler Spielman of Auburn University for the low round of the championship. Watney enters the final round tied for fourth at 8 under par with Kentaro Nanayama (Indonesia / Purdue University) and Chi Chun Chen (Taiwan / University of Houston).
>> VIEW THE SOUTHWESTERN AMATEUR LEADERBOARD
The final round begins tomorrow at 7:30 a.m., with the men’s field teeing off first, followed by the women.