Sahalee Players: Pereira looks to go wire-to-wire

Sammamish, Wash. – Corey Pereira of Cameron Park, Calif. played just well enough in today’s third round, shooting a 2-over par 74, to hold his lead at the 22nd Sahalee Players Championship (SPC), being held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.

The championship, with a field of 66 elite male amateur golfers from around the world, is being contested over 72 holes of stroke play, with 36 holes being played the first day, 18 the second, and 18 on the third and final day.

Climbing up the leader board in pursuit of Pereira are Curtis Luck of Australia and Jonathan Sanders of Chatsworth, Calif., both shooting 2-under par 70s and sitting at 4-under par total, three shots behind Pereira.

There are only 10 players under par after three rounds.

Pereira started today’s third round with a 6-shot lead and played steady golf for most of the day and was even-par after 13 holes. But he double-bogeyed the par-4 377-yard 14th hole on his way to shooting 74, backing up to the field and will start tomorrow’s final round with his lead cut in half.

Pereira, who just finished his sophomore year playing for the University of Washington men’s golf team, had finished tied for second in last year’s SPC. His strategy for Sahalee’s tree-lined layout is much different than the typical approach. “I like to play aggressive off the tee here,” he said. “I always hit a lot of drivers here (while other players hit long irons and hybrids). But that’s what held me back today; I just couldn’t keep the ball on the planet today off the tee.” Pereira had blistered the course during yesterday’s 36-hole opening day, firing a 7-under par 65 in the morning round, followed by a 2-under 70 in the afternoon.

Courtesy Sahalee Players Championship