Kaufman soars 4 clear in Indiana
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Evansville, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Smylie Kaufman fired an 8-under 64 on Saturday and moved four strokes ahead of the field after three rounds of the United Leasing Championship.
Kaufman finished 54 holes at 11-under-par 205. His 64 was the low round of the week by three strokes, and it matched the course record that Scott Harrington and Tony Finau set last year.
Ryan Spears carded a 2-under 70 and stands alone in second place at minus-7. Adam Long (65) and Michael Hebert (70) share third place at 6-under-par 210.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Julian Etulain and Tim Herron are alone in sixth and seventh at minus-5 and minus-4 respectively. Etulain carded a 72 at Victoria National Golf Club, while Herron posted a 69 on Saturday.
Tag Ridings dropped four shots in the last three holes to tumble to 3-under- par 213. Ridings faltered to a 75 and was joined in seventh place by Tommy Gainey (71), Peter Malnati (72) and Harold Varner III (69)
Kaufman, a tour rookie, was five back to start the day. He flew out of the gate with three straight birdies from the first. After three pars in a row, he stumbled to a bogey at the par-3 seventh.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 23-year-old erased that mistake with a birdie on No. 8. Kaufman made it two in a row as he also birdied the ninth to make the turn at minus-7.
Kaufman flew into the lead as he poured in three birdies in a 4-hole span from the 10th to jump to 10-under. His birdie at the 13th was his fifth in six holes.
After a pair of pars, Kaufman birdied the par-3 16th to move four clear. He parred the final two holes to end there.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Driver is the straightest club in my bag. I'm pretty much going to hit driver everywhere unless the number doesn't add up in the fairway," Kaufman stated. "It's a tough golf course and you've got to be committed to everything you do out there. Every shot, you can't let up."
Spears traded a bogey for a birdie from the third. After a pair of pars, he dropped another stroke at the seventh and slipped to minus-4.
Around the turn, Spears birdied the 10th and 13th. He faltered to a bogey at the 14th, but birdied 15 and 16 to move into second place at 7-under.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ridings had a pair of birdies and a bogey on the front nine to turn at minus-7. After a bogey at 12, Ridings came back with a birdie on the 15th. He fell down the leaderboard with bogeys at 16 and 17, and a double-bogey at the par-4 18th.
NOTES: Kaufman has missed the cut in three of his five events this season, and tied for fourth in his other two starts ... Second-round leader Luke List tumbled into a share of 23rd as he mixed three double-bogeys, three bogeys and a birdie in a round of 8-over 80.