Matt Weibring holds narrow lead at Midwest Classic
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Matt Weibring carded a 6-under 65 on Saturday to grab a 1-shot lead after three rounds of the Midwest Classic.
Weibring, who will go for his first tour win on Sunday, finished 54 holes at 14-under 199.
Defending champion James Nitties posted his second straight 66 to move into second place at minus-13. He has a chance to become the first player in tour history to repeat as champion.
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Jamie Lovemark fired the low round of the day with his 8-under 63 and soared into a share of third place at 12-under 201. He stands alongside second-round leader Bryan DeCorso (69), Paul Claxton (67), Russell Henley (67) and Christopher DeForest (68).
Weibring poured in four consecutive birdie chances from the third to jump to 12-under. He gave one of those strokes back as he tripped to a bogey on the par-3 eighth on the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate.
He atoned for that mistake with a birdie on the par-4 10th. Weibring also birdied the 12th to move to 13-under before parring his next five holes.
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"I got off to the good start with those birdies on the front nine and then made those two early on the back nine," Weibring stated. "I also made a good up and down on No. 14."
After his run of pars, Weibring converted an 8-footer for birdie at the last.
"It's always good to finish with a birdie like I did regardless if it's Thursday or Saturday or Sunday," Weibring stated. "I really didn't look at a leaderboard today. I just wanted to get myself in a good position for tomorrow and this round puts me in a good position. We've got one more round to go and I just have to keep making birdies and playing well with hopes that with five or six holes to go you're in the mix."
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Nitties birdied the first and third, but gave a shot back when he bogeyed the fifth. He made the turn at 10-under after a birdie on the ninth.
The Australian ran off four birdies in a 5-hole span from the 12th to jump to 14-under but bogeyed the 17th to end one back.
"I got a little rattled at the start today and didn't seem to have my tempo and made some terrible pars. You've really got to score on those first seven holes, but I played really good on the back nine, which is not really a scoring nine. I'm really happy where I am," said Nitties.
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NOTES: This is Weibring's 150th tour start and his best previous finish is a share of third at the 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am...It was the second time Weibring held a piece of the lead entering the final round.