- Robert Thomas photos courtesy PCGA

With 54-hole totals of 212, Nagle and Hagen are the only players to have matched par for three rounds, with play alternating between The Olympic Club’s Ocean and Lake courses. Tomorrow’s final round is on the Lake Course, site of eight USGA national championships including four U.S. Opens. Gallery is welcome to at no charge. Live scoring will be available at www.pacificcoastamateur.com.

Right behind the leaders are 50-year-old Brady Exber of Las Vegas, who also shot 69 today, and 18-year-old Ben Fox of Studio City, Calif., whose even-par 71 also put him at 214. UCLA student Kevin Chappell of Fresno is alone in fifth place at 214 and eight golfers are tied for sixth at 215. A total of 15 golfers are within four shots of the lead heading into tomorrow’s final round.

The 21-year-old Nagle – the 2003 California Amateur champion who will be a senior this fall at the University of Illinois -- is playing his first tournament in six weeks. He suffered a hand injury earlier this year and missed the last four weeks of his collegiate season, before qualifying in and playing at the U.S. Open. He sat out another four weeks to let the injury heal and resumed play only last week.

After opening with four consecutive pars, Nagle birdied four of his next five holes and made the turn in 32, 4 under par. “I was just trying to make some more birdies because I figured the leaders were playing well,” said Nagle after his round, “but I struggled coming in.” He bogied Nos. 10 and 11 (the latter a par-5 that he three-putted) but settled down and finished with seven consecutive pars.

The left-handed Hagen, 23, who graduated this summer from the University of Nevada, considered himself fortunate to be tied for the lead. “I haven’t hit the ball real well all week,” said Hagen after his round, “but my short game has definitely saved me. I didn’t hit any great shots today — none that were within 10 feet — but I scraped it around.” Hagen birdied the par-5 opening hole and then scrambled for 11 consecutive pars. He made his only bogey of the day on the 13th hole but rebounded immediately to sink a 30-foot birdie putt on the 396-yard 14th hole, and finished the round with four more pars.

No one was more pleased with his position than Exber, whose long amateur career includes winning the 2006 Southern Nevada Amateur and the 2005 Las Vegas Amateur. “I drove it really well today and hit some good irons,” said Exber, “but the big key was that I made a lot of putts.” Exber overcame a shanked pitching wedge shot today, the second day in a row that has happened. “I’ve got this wedge that has no bounce,” he explained with a shrug, “and once in awhile the heel catches the ball and it goes straight right.” Exber birdied three of his last four front-nine holes for 33 and birdied the finishing hole to tie for second.

Fox, who earlier this summer won the Southwestern Amateur and played on last week’s victorious U.S. team in the inaugural USA-China Friendship Cup, continued his strong play. “Today went real well,” he said after his round. “I hit the ball great but my putter let me down a little bit. I didn’t miss any gimmees but I missed about seven or eight six-footers for birdie, which was a little frustrating. I hung in there and stayed as patient as I could.”

All of the leaders had to contend with changing weather conditions at the club, which lies adjacent to the ocean just south of San Francisco. “Wind conditions were tough,” admitted Fox. Nagle, who lives just a few minutes south of the club, said, “The first nine we played was awesome, with hardly any wind. Then we got around to the backside and the fog rolled in and the wind kicked up, which always makes it a little tougher.” Tomorrow’s forecast is for more of the same.

RESULTS:

PACIFIC COAST GOLF ASSOCIATION

40th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship

at The Olympic Club; Daly City, CA Ocean Course 6,844 yards; par 71

54-hole results:

212 -- Adam Hagen, Scappoose, OR, 71-71-70; Patrick Nagle, Pacifica, CA, 70-73-69.

213 -- Ben Fox, Studio City, CA, 69-73-71; Brady Exber, Las Vegas, NV, 74-70-69.

214 -- Kevin Chappell, Fresno, CA, 71-70-73.

215 -- Adam Hadwin, Abbotsford, BC, 76-71-68; Drew Stoltz, Ft Collins, CO, 75-72-68; Erik Hanson, Kirkland, WA, 70-72-73; Henry Liaw, Rowland Hts, CA, 74-72-69; James Love, Calgary, AB, 70-72-73; Josh Immordino, Kent, WA, 72-69-74; Zach Bixler, Richland, WA, 74-72-69; Zack Miller, San Rafael, CA, 71-73-71.

216 -- Eddie Olson, Aptos, CA, 73-68-75; Ryan Thornberry, Ceres, CA, 70-75-71.

217 -- Cameron Tringale, San Juan Capistrano, CA, 71-75-71; J.J. Wood, Yuma, AZ, 72-74-71; Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, CA, 78-71-68; Matt Savage, Scottsdale, AZ, 69-76-72; Michael Wilson, Pacific Grove, CA, 71-76-70; Steve Saunders, Albuquerque, NM, 74-75-68.

218 -- Blake Moore, Monrovia, CA, 72-75-71; Brian Edick, Valencia, CA, 73-75-70; Charlie Beljan, Mesa, AZ, 71-72-75; Chris Heintz, Brea, CA, 71-75-72; Clayton Ogden, North Salt Lake, UT, 74-74-70; Elliott Wainwright, Hillsborough, CA, 72-73-73.

219 -- Dustin Pimm, Sandy, UT, 72-76-71; Kris Wasylowich, Lethbridge, AB, 73-73-73; Michael Barbosa, St Petersburg, FL, 76-74-69; Michael McCoy, West Des Moines, IA, 71-74-74.

220 -- Mitchell Gillis, Williams Lake, BC, 73-74-73; Randy Haag, Burlingame, CA, 76-73-71.

221 -- Daniel Summerhays, Provo, UT, 75-74-72; Jeff Wilson, Fairfield, CA, 75-72-74; Joseph Bramlett, Saratoga, CA, 71-74-76; Tim McKenney, Scottsdale, AZ, 74-74-73.

222 -- Gary Vanier, Pleasant Hill, CA, 71-78-73; John Pate, Santa Barbara, CA, 70-75-77; Keegan Bradley, Jackson, WY, 77-72-73; Steve Woods, Cupertino, CA, 71-76-75.

223 -- Alex Prugh, Spokane, WA, 78-77-68; Brendon Ehlers, Evanston, WY, 74-78-71; Craig Doell, Victoria, BC, 76-75-72; Scott Hardy, Pleasant Hill, CA, 73-76-74.

224 -- Bryan Toth, Victoria, BC, 75-74-75; Nick Travers, Boise, ID, 77-72-75; Ryan Keeney, Redmond, WA, 71-78-75; Scott Hval, Portland, OR, 78-73-73; Steven Fink, Las Vegas, NV, 72-82-70; Tim Hogarth, Northridge, CA, 75-78-71; Tye Alexander, Los Angeles, CA, 74-72-78.

225 -- Matt Williams, Las Cruces, NM, 72-74-79; Ryan Kelley, Phoenix, AZ, 74-76-75; Scott McGihon, Bermuda Dunes, CA, 76-71-78.

226 -- Adam Tebbs, Henderson, NV, 77-73-76; Graham DeLaet, Weyburn, SK, 77-72-77; Joe Sawaia, Henderson, NV, 72-80-74; Nick Becker, Boise, ID, 72-81-73; Todd Halpen, Calgary, AB, 77-79-70.

227 -- Joe Sanders, Incline Village, NV, 74-72-81; Todd Griffin, Casper, WY, 77-78-72; Travis Esway, Granite Bay, CA, 72-75-80.

228 -- Dan Horner, Salt Lake City, UT, 77-76-75; Michael Knight, Calgary, AB, 74-78-76; Roberto Galletti, Jr, Clayton, CA, 77-76-75; Seth Cotter, Sparks, NV, 77-75-76; Will Johnson, San Francisco, CA, 77-76-75.

229 -- David Nelson, Reno, NV, 76-78-75; Greggory LaVoie, Pasco, WA, 72-80-77; Jordan Nasser, Anaheim Hills, CA, 78-75-76; Robert Funk, Canyon Lake, CA, 76-80-73; Tony Finau, Salt Lake City, UT, 79-81-69.

230 -- Paul Welle, Scottsdale, AZ, 73-81-76; Riki Kauika, Wanganui, New Zealand, 83-71-76.

231 -- Andrew Putnam, University Place, WA, 75-77-79; Charles Soule, Longmont, CO, 79-79-73; George E. Marucci, Jr, Wayne, PA, 79-77-75; Ken Kellaney, Phoenix, AZ, 78-82-71.

233 -- Brett Smith, Boise, ID, 75-77-81; Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch, CO, 79-80-74; Zen Brown, Arvada, CO, 79-76-78.

234 -- Anton Salome, Socorro, NM, 79-77-78.

235 -- Alex Stamey, Mill Creek, WA, 74-84-77; Carl Jensen, Salt Lake City, UT, 81-83-71.

236 -- Jay Snyder, Vancouver, BC, 76-84-76.

237 -- Jake Ellison, Provo, UT, 81-82-74.

238 -- Don DuBois, Newport Beach, CA, 83-76-79.

248 -- Greg Wenzel, Sparks, NV, 82-82-84.

WD -- Ed Susolik, Newport Beach, CA, 75-85-WD.

NOTE: The championship is alternating rounds between the par-71 Ocean Course and the par-70 Lake Course, where the final round will be played Friday.

To view latest live scoring, click the name of the tournament at the top of this page and follow the "results" tab (amateurgolf.com Premium Membership requested).