Karl Vilips (Northeast Amateur/Twitter photo)
Even though Karl Vilips matched a course record at the Northeast Amateur on Friday that dates to 2011, the Australian still couldn’t wrestle the lead away from Garrett May. Vilips had a bogey-free 8-under 61 at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I., a number last posted by current PGA Tour player Luke Guthrie during his Illinois days.
Vilips had a chance to get to 60, but a putt for his ninth and final birdie came up short on No. 18.
With that round, Vilips moved to 6 under for the tournament, and took solo third. His third-round score was 10 shots better than the score he posted in Round 2. It’s an especially impressive number considering that more rain moved through the Rumford area on Friday, even halting play at one point during the afternoon.
Garrett May just continues to play well in those conditions.
May, who recently finished a career at Baylor, has been untouchable so far this week. After opening with 63, May has led after every round. On Friday, a 4-under 69 allowed him to pull away. He is now at 12 under, and five shots ahead of Scott Stevens.
Vilips is 6 under in third, along with John Pak, the Florida State player who is coming off a top-5 finish at the Sunnehanna Amateur last week. Stewart Hagestad, the mid-amateur who last week played the U.S. Open (though he missed the cut) is part of a three-way tie for fifth that also includes LSU’s Trey Winstead and Daniel Wetterich, who just finished his playing career at Ohio State.
The cut was made to the top 60 players and ties at the end of the day, and fell at 7 over.
Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, withdrew in the third round at Wannamoisett with back pain. It’s the second consecutive amateur event in which he has withdrawn, after stopping during the second round of the Dogwood Invitational earlier this month.
Said tournament director Ben Tuthill, “Tony Romo has been battling back issues and tried his hardest just to finish today but could not. I know first hand how much pain he was in. We greatly appreciate his participation and for being a true gentleman. We look forward to welcoming him back in the future.”
ABOUT THE Northeast Amateur
The Northeast Amateur has a historic list of winners,
including Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin
Morikawa, Luke
Donald,
Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, and David Duval.
It
has been annually held at the Donald Ross-designed
Wannamoisett Country Club since 1962. The event
is
limited to 90 elite players; there is a cut after 54
holes
and the entire tournament is played in twosomes.
View Complete Tournament Information