Roach soars into lead in Mexico
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Guanajuato, Mexico (SportsNetwork.com) - Wes Roach fired a 7-under 65 in Saturday's third round and grabbed a 1-stroke lead at the El Bosque Mexico Championship.
Roach ended three rounds at 13-under-par 203. His total of 203 broke the tournament's 54-hole record by one stroke. Eight players shared that record.
Kevin Tway (70) is alone in second place at 12-under-par 204. Miguel Angel Carballo carded a 6-under 66 at El Bosque Country Club to jump into third place at minus-10.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stephen Jaeger (68) and Smylie Kaufman (70) share fourth place at 9-under 207.
Peter Malnati and Casey Wittenberg shared the lead after each of the first two rounds, but struggled in round three. Malnati stumbled to a 3-over 75 and dropped into a tie for sixth at 8-under 208. Wittenberg faltered to a 4-over 76 and shares 11th at minus-7.
Roach got his round off to a quick start with birdies at two and four. After three pars in a row, he birdied the par-5 eighth. Roach parred the ninth en route to making the turn at minus-9.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Around the turn, Roach birdied the par-3 12th. He parred the 13th and followed with his fifth birdie of the day on No. 14.
Roach stayed at 11-under until the last. He chipped in for eagle on the par-5 closing hole to jump into the lead at 13-under.
"I did everything well today. That was a nice bonus at the end. I was just trying to chip it somewhere near the hole and make birdie. Fortunately, it went in," Roach stated. "I was missing a lot of my left-to-right putts to the right. I'd been through the same type of deal before and (my coach) just reminded me that the last time we worked on that, I was aimed too far right and was slicing across it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tway parred the first three holes before dropping in a birdie effort at the fourth. He tripped to a bogey at the sixth, then fell to 1-over par for his round when he faltered to a bogey on No. 8.
The 2013 Boise Open winner parred the ninth to make the turn at minus-9. In the first eight holes of the back nine, Tway had seven pars and a birdie on the 14th.
Tway closed his round with a 5-foot eagle putt at the last to end one back.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's always difficult when you don't get off to a good start and you know the wind is going to be a problem all day," Tway stated. "You have to be patient. It was nice to finally take advantage of a good drive on a par-5 (No. 18)."
NOTES: Jeff Gove had a hole-in-one on the par-3 third and also made eagle at the par-4 11th, where he holed an 8-iron from 176 yards out ... Tyler Duncan also had a pair of eagles on Saturday.