Caleb Surratt (L) and James Leow (Pacific Coast Amateur photo)
Three golfers separated themselves from the pack in Thursday's third round of the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship being held at the Columbia Edgewater Golf Club in Portland, Ore.
Caleb Surratt and
James Leow are tied for the lead at 12-under 201 while
Sam Choi is one back after firing a 6-under 64 to move to 11-under.
While 26 golfers are under par at the 54-hole mark of the penultimate event of the Elite Amateur Series, only four are within five shots of the lead heading into Friday's final round. In addition to Choi,
Carson Barry,
Brady McKinlay and
Max Hernendeen are tied for fourth place but are five strokes off the pace at 7-under par.
Second-round leader
William Paysse, who opened the tournament with a pair of 67s to start the day at 8-under, slipped into a tie for 12th following a third-round 74.
Surratt, who leads the Elite Amateur Series points standings after collecting top-five finishes at the Sunnehanna (t-4), Northeast (3) and Southern Amateurs (4), had nine birdies and two bogeys for a third-round score of 64 (-7), which tied the men's competitive course record at Columbia Edgewater.
“It was a good day out there,” said Surratt, “I had some fun, put my head down and just focused on what I could control.
“I had to overcome some adversity out there, which helped me stay focused. I missed a one-foot putt and I had a three-putt, and they honestly helped me not lose track of what I was trying to do.”
The Tennessee-bound Surratt is 13-under over his last two rounds after opening with a 1-over 72 on Tuesday.
Leow and Choi nearly kept pace with Surratt on Thursday, turning in matching 65s to reach double figures under par. Leow, who recently completed his senior year at Arizona State, made eight birdies on the day while Choi, who plays collegiately at New Mexico, enjoyed a bogey-free round with six birides.
“I hit a lot of good approach shots and I made a lot of putts today, which is crucial out here,” said Leow.
Leow has been dealing with a strained neck this week, but it hasn’t seemed to slow him down.
“The course isn’t playing very long, and I’m not hitting it very long right now because I strained my neck, so I’m just hitting three-quarter swings and trying to find fairways to give myself anything inside 150 yards.”
Choi is no stranger to success at this event. Just last year, he was part of a five-man playoff won by Devon Bling at Chambers Bay and in 2019, Choi tied for fourth.
“Playing the Pac Coast is like one of my favorite events to play in,” said Choi, “I always play good and have good energy going into this tournament, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”
Final round play gets underway tomorrow (Friday) morning at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. local time, going of the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.
The Pacific Coast Amateur contributed to this report.
ABOUT THE Pacific Coast Amateur
Although its present history only dates from
1967, the Pacific Coast
Amateur Championship's roots make it one of
the
oldest amateur
golf championships in American history. The first
tournament was
held on the links of San Francisco Golf Club at
The
Presidio, April 24-
27, 1901. Championships were held annually
through 1911, all being
conducted in California except for the 1909
championship, which was
held at Seattle Golf Club in Washington. The
Pacific Coast Amateur
then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at
Seattle Golf Club on
August 10-12, 1967 with the Pacific Northwest,
Northern California,
Southern California, Oregon and Arizona golf
associations
participating.
Today, 15 member Pacific Rim golf
associations comprise
the Pacific Coast Golf Association. Players can
be
invited to this 72-
hole stroke play event by their Pacific Coast G.A.
member golf
association, or as an individual.
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