Monroe Invitational: Forrester continues to sting the competition

It's been a stellar three days for Bartley Forrester at Monroe Golf Club. After putting together rounds of 69 and 66, he arrived for round three poised to play more good golf, and he rode the wave with a 64.

He opened with a spotless front nine of 32 to reach 9-under par for the tournament. That put some serious space between him and the co-leader Cameron Harlock, who shot a 37 and slipped down the leaderboard.

Bartley's birdies on the opening nine came early. He birdied hole Nos. 1,2, and 6. Forrester wasn't done, though. He tallied three more birdies on the back on hole Nos. 11, 14, and 17. When the dust settled, Forrester had a six-shot lead.

Ohio State Buckeye Jackson Chandler from Dublin, Ohio sits in solo second place after shooting a 66. Chandler is hoping to make a run at Forrester in the fourth round, and to do so he might need a round like fellow Ohioan, Luke Wells.

Wells, from Springfield, Ohio, is the only player that can say he kept pace with the buzzing Yellow Jacket. After starting his day likely more focused on the 54-hole cut than he was on the top of the leaderboard, Wells is now in a tie for third place after a bogey-free 64. It moved him from 1-over par to 5-under par. Wells made up most of his ground on holes Nos. 6-11, which he played in five-under par.

Danny Fisher joins Wells in third place after shooting a 68.

Related: Monroe Invitational Preview
Related: Monroe round one recap
Related: Monroe round two recap

The list of players at four under seems like a fair cut off for contenders to catch Forrester. One local Yaroslav Merkulov has a bit of history going low and breaking records. Merulov was medalist in the US Mid-Am on Nantucket in 2021. He shot 9-under par 131 on the island, breaking the 36-hole scoring record.

The two other players tied with Merklov are Laurent Desmarchais and Steve Campbell Jr.. All four players have played very steady golf, but will need a low score in the final round.

Down around the cut line, which was 3-over par, local mid-am Chris Blyth shot a 67 to make the cut on the number. Garrett Rank, the third ranked mid-amateur in the Golfweek/AGC rankings fired a 66 to reach 2-over par for the tournament.