Sunnehanna Amateur: Preston Summerhays holds 54-hole lead

Preston Summerhays emerged from a pack of four players tied after 36 holes to take a naroow lead into the final round of Sunnehanna Amateur. Summerhays, an Arizona State signee, posted a 4-under 66 to vault himself into a solo lead with one round remaining. Getting off to a hot start, Summerhays carded three birdies on his first four holes before making a bogey on the par-3 fifth. Following the bogey with four-straight pars to close out the front side, Summerhays went out in 33. Tallying two birdies on the back nine, Summerhays finds himself sleeping on a slim one-shot margin. “I’m just going to keep on playing the way I have been playing,” Summerhays, who broke loose from a four-way tie for the lead through two rounds, told the Tribune-Democrat. “I’m going to attack when I have good numbers with wedges. I’m going to keep practicing my putting and make sure I make those 4 to 8-footers.” First round leader, Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl, was unable to keep up with the younger players today. Hybl, 38, got off on the wrong foot, opening his third round with a 4-over 39. Finding a way to save his round, he carded two birdies on the back nine for a 72 which places him into a tie for 15th at 3-under. Fellow Sooner and day two co-leader Quade Cummins matched his head coach’s score with his own 72 to also slide from the lead. The last of the four day two co-leaders, Auburn’s Graysen Huff finds himself in prime position to strike during the final round. Following his Wednesday 65 with a 3-under 67 on Thursday, Huff sits just one back of Summerhays. Joining Huff in second place is Southern Cal’s, Leon D’Souza. Catching fire in the middle part of his round, D’Souza went 5-under over a five-hole stretch (No. 8-12) which included an eagle on the par-5 11th. D’Souza made an eagle on the par-5 No. 11 and had birdies on 8, 9, 12 and 17. He made bogey on 14. He told the Tribune-Democrat in a post round interview that it was a long putt for birdie that really got him going. “Definitely the birdie on No. 8, that was 42 feet,” D’Souza said of the hole that helped spark his round. “I had made seven pars in a row until that. That pushed me in the right direction. I made an eagle on 11 and birdied 12." Trey Winstead sits in solo fourth at 7-under, three competitors are tied for fifth at 5-under. The final group of Summerhays, Huff, and D’Souza tee off at 9:30 am ET.