Southwestern Am: Hahn, Padgett Lead; Defending Champ Lurks

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (June 15, 2018) - The final round of the Southwestern Amateur Championship looks to be a shootout, with a pair of strong players tied for the 54-hole lead at 10 under, and the defending champion just two shots behind.

Jordan Hahn (Spring Grove, IL), the rising senior at the University of Wisconsin who led after two rounds, maintained a share of the lead with a 3-under 67 on Friday. But it didn't come easily, with two early bogeys knocking him back. His putter would take over, however, with three putts made over 30 feet.

“It didn’t start out very pretty,” said Hahn, “but my putting really saved metoday. Seven birdies in the round provides me a lot of hope for tomorrow, but I also made fourbogeys, so I really need to clean some things up on Saturday.”

Hahn would still be leading solo if it weren't for a strong finish by Auburn University sophomore Wells Padgett (Wichita, KS), who birdied his final two holes for a 4-under 66 that put him alongside Hahn at 10 under. The highlights of his round were a birdie on the par-5 8th after visiting the desert, and a 225-yard 6-iron to two feet for birdie on the par-3 17th.

“It was a pretty solid round of golf,” said Padgett. “The golf course really fits my eye andseems pretty wide open. I did miss a couple of short putts today that hopefully I can clean uptomorrow.”

If either Hahn or Padgett are to win this year's championship, they will need to keep pushing deeper into red figures, because the defending champion Jino Sohn sits just two shots back after a round of 67.

Sohn obviously has good memories in this tournament from last year's victory, and has now posted seven straight rounds in the 60s on the Cochise Course over two years in the Southwetern Amateur.

As the wind starts to pick up, reigning champion @jino_sohn (@sundevilmgolf) takes his turn on 16.

Sohn is -3 through 15 today and just one stroke off first place! pic.twitter.com/gapTvme7Hu

— Southwestern Amateur (@SouthwesternAm) June 15, 2018

“I really played very steady golf today,” said Sohn. “The conditions today were a little morechallenging because of the wind, but I am very happy with the way that I played. I hit a lot offairways and greens, and am looking forward to tomorrow’s final round.”

One other player is within three shots of the lead: George Markham (Phoenix, AZ) of the Colorado School of Mines, the first-round co-leader who shot a 68 Friday and is 7 under par.

The next group of players is another six shots back and would need a very low round to pass the top four players.

The final round begins Saturday morning with the lead group of Hahn, Padgett and Sohn teeing off at 9:36am local time.