Brendan Steele thought the course at Silverado might get tougher for the final two rounds of the Frys.com Open.
He thought it might keep the other players from going real low on Saturday.
That didn’t happen.
Steele managed a three-under par 69 that got him to 14-under par but he’s clinging to a fragile one-shot lead going into the final round on a course that yielded plenty of low scores during the third round of play in the PGA Tour’s first event of the 2015-16 season.
Steele was steady but unspectacular. He hit 16 of 18 greens but couldn’t find the birdies that came his way when he shot 63 in the first round to tie the course record.
Former LSU golfer Andrew Loupe, who lost his card then regained it this year on the Web.com Tour, tied the course record with a 63 of his own that moved him to 13-under, one back along with Kevin Na, who had an outstanding day with 64.
It gets really crowded on the leader board after that.
There are eight players huddled at 12-under par, including major champion Justin Rose. Rose shot 68 to join the group. It’s an interesting mix in there with Rose. Harold Varner III, playing in his first PGA Tour event, bogeyed the final hole or he would have been within a shot of the lead. Former winner Jhonattan Vegas has no status on the tour after losing his card but could help himself out on Sunday.
Emiliano Grillo on the Web.com Tour Championship, he’s in at 12-under. So is veteran Jason Bohn along with Kyle Reifers, Graham DeLaet and another rookie — Will Wilcox.
Justin Thomas, who had an outstanding rookie season last year, is in the hunt at 11-under, the only player at that score.
The final 18 promises to be a scramble to see who wins the season’s first event.
