Keefer catches Lee at top of Southern Amateur leaderboard

In a field of collegians, John Keefer may initially be easy to overlook. The high schooler made that harder to do on Friday at the Southern Amateur with a third-round 65 that gave him a share of the lead at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark.

Keefer hails from San Antonio, Texas, and will play college golf at Baylor. He had a sneaky good 22nd-place finish at the Trans-Miss Amateur earlier this month and played the Toyota Junior World Cup in Japan before that.

Keefer’s birdie runs came in threes on Friday. After an initial birdie at No. 3, he scored three in a row from Nos. 6-8, and again at Nos. 11-3. His only mistake was a double bogey at No. 16, but he made up for it with a final birdie at No. 18.

For the first time this week, Walker Lee now has company at the top of the leaderboard. The Texas A&M player opened with rounds of 65-71 and added a 68 on Friday. He and Keefer are both at 9 under, one shot ahead of Noah Woolsey, who plays for Washington, and Blaine Hale, a recent Oklahoma graduate.

The leaderboard is plenty crowded entering the final round, as the next 19 players are under par for 54 holes.