With temperatures held in check by cloud cover and even a few light desert sprinkles, “moving day” lived up to its name at the 111th Southwestern Amateur Championship. After the cut fell on Thursday, 77 players teed it up at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course, with 38 men and 39 women battling for position before heading into Saturday’s final round.
On the women’s side, Elise Lee of Irvine, Calif., surged into the lead after posting a 5-under 67, cementing the low round of the day and reaching 11 under par. Lee, who entered the day one shot behind Grace Anderson of Burlington, Ont., Canada, caught momentum and capitalized with an eagle to finish out the front nine.
“Today, I was just kind of sticking it all close and making all my putts,” Lee said. “Holed out on nine from 65 yards. That was sweet.“
The rising junior at USC has now posted rounds of 69-69-67, and is the only golfer to achieve three consecutive sub-70 rounds. Lee will take a two-shot advantage into Saturday and be a part of the final group, teeing off of hole one at 9:30am.
Mary Miller sits alone in second after a 68 moved her to 9 under. The Savannah, Ga. native credited a hot putter and a relaxed mindset.
“Yeah, it went really well,” Miller said. “I just tried to stay solid and happy out there and have some fun. My putter was really rolling well in those first few holes.”
Good green management and accurate speed resulted in three birdies to start the round, followed by four pars and one final birdie on hole nine to card a 32-out, three and four strokes better than her first two rounds.
Miller’s father has been on the bag all week during her first trip to Arizona and first time playing on a desert course.
“That’s my dad,” she said. “He’s just on the bag because I honestly don’t have anyone else. He doesn’t know much about golf, so he’s kind of just cleaning my clubs and ball and talking to me about random stuff.”
Anderson, a rising junior at Pepperdine, carded a 71 and fell into third at 8 under. Three shots behind Anderson is Mia Clausen of Carlsbad, Calif., who posted a 73 and stands fourth at 5 under. One month shy of her 16th birthday, Clausen is the second youngest player in the women’s field and the U.S. National Junior Team member is making her presence and talent known.
Scarlett Schremmer of Birmingham, Ala., Kaili Xiao of Beijing, China, and Brynn Kort of Kingman, Ariz., are tied for fifth at 4 under. Schremmer and Xiao, who was the runner-up here last year, moved up the leaderboard with rounds of 4-under 68, while Kort added a 70.
With the top three separating themselves from the field, the women’s champion is likely to come from Saturday’s final group.
In the men’s division, Jared Abercrombie of Simi Valley, Calif., continued his impressive week by carding a 4-under 68 to move to 13 under overall and open a three-shot lead entering Saturday’s final round.
The recent transfer to Santa Clara University followed his tournament-low 65 from Thursday with a steady performance, relying on his ball striking and short game to navigate a more demanding setup.
“A little more stress than yesterday, a lot more saves up around the greens, but I was able to keep it steady and keep the momentum throughout the entire round, which is nice on this course,” Abercrombie said. “The ball striking has been holding me together pretty well, and if I can just keep it going, I think the results will come tomorrow.”
Abercrombie has birdied the par-5 second and 13th holes all three days and will look to do the same tomorrow.
“Stay aggressive,” he said. “This course forces you to be confident off the tee.”
Three shots back sits RJ Arone of Las Vegas, Nev., who posted a 71 and remains firmly in contention at 10 under par. Looking to replicate the magic from a first-round 9-under 63, the University of Michigan rising junior will be a part of the final group, teeing off of hole one at 8:30am.
Miles Kuhl of Boulder, Colo., made a statement move among the chasers. The San Diego State commit fired a 4-under 68, highlighted by birdies on his first two holes and another pair on holes 16 and 17, to climb into solo third at 9 under.
“I was really steady,” Kuhl said. “Yesterday was a bit of a roller coaster, so today my goal was just to hit every green and be consistent. I think I hit 15 greens and got everything up and down. It was a good day.”
Defending champion Hartej Grewal of Pleasanton, Calif., charged back into contention with one of the day’s most memorable stretches. After turning in one over, the University of Kansas rising junior rattled off five consecutive birdies on the back nine en route to a 68 and fourth place at 8 under.
“It was pretty up and down,” Grewal said. “The front nine, I shot one over, not my best, but then I had five birdies in a row on the back which gave me some confidence to come back.”
The reigning champion welcomed the opportunity to defend his title.
“It feels really good,” Grewal said. “I love this tournament.”
Johnnie Clark of Mesa, Ariz., continued his climb up the leaderboard with a 67 and shares fifth place at 6 under with David Liechty of Layton, Utah, and Austin Krahn of Christina Lake, B.C., Canada.
“It was pretty scrappy, just getting up and down from everywhere,” said the University of New Mexico rising senior. “My short game has been a lot more consistent, so I’ve been able to save par where (before) I was making bogeys.”
Clark enters the final round with confidence, and hopes to continue the positive linear trend he has established with a three-stroke improvement each day.
“I’m on track for 64 tomorrow, so we’ll see if that happens,” he said.
The final round of the 111th Southwestern Amateur will tee off on Saturday morning, with the men going off both sides starting at 7:30am, followed by the women at 8:40am. Champions will be crowned following the conclusion of play.