PGA TOUR Canada – Fidone grabs the lead after a blistery Saturday

Third-Round Leaderboard

Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist

Full leaderboard: https://www.pgatour.com/canada/en_us/leaderboard.html

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada—With low scores hard to come by Saturday afternoon at Uplands Golf Club, Lufkin, Texas, native Sam Fidone fought through a windy day to shoot 66 to take a two-stroke lead over Blake Sattler into the final round of the Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist. Canadian Jared Du Toit is alone in third, three strokes off the lead.

Beginning the day in the second-to-last group, Fidone quickly narrowed the gap to one shot between him and overnight leader Zach Wright, with back-to-back birdies out of the gate.

“I watched Wes (Heffernan) make a 35- or 40-footer on one, so I decided to do the same thing,” said Fidone. “Holes 1 and 2, making birdies, that start affirmed to me that I was doing the right things.”

From there, Fidone cruised through the rest of the nine despite tough conditions, taking advantage of the par-5 seventh, with his third birdie of the round.

“I looked at the Weather Channel this morning and saw 17- or 18 mile-per-hour winds. On Monday, I said ‘I hope it blows out here at least one day,’ and I got my wish,” said Fidone. “Being from Texas, a windy part of the world, it’s fun to play in wind, and I don’t actually mind it that much.”

The defining moment of the round came on the par-5 12^th hole. Despite hitting his tee shot a bit fat by his own admission, Fidone hit his second to the edge of the fringe, 15 feet from the hole.

Utilizing a shot he learned from a friend at Southern Methodist University, Fidone elected to belly-wedge the ball, taking a potential unpredictable jump from the collar out of the equation.

Fidone watched his shot roll into the hole, giving him a three-stroke lead.

“I’ve never made an eagle like that, I’ve never bellied an eagle, so watching it go in was awesome.”

After making his only bogey of the day on the 13^th, Fidone made five consecutive pars to finish off his 66.

“I’ll stick to the same morning routine I always do tomorrow,” said Fidone. “it’s impossible not to think about what ifs, but you have to finish that thought and get on to the next task at hand.”

The Bayview Place DCBank Open is the second of three events on the B.C. Golf Swing, which entails tournaments in picturesque Vancouver, Victoria and next week’s Tour stop in Kelowna.

Key Information

• After claiming medalist honors at the Carlton Oaks Q-School in March, with a two-stroke victory, the Bayview Place DCBank Open is Sam Fidone’s second start on the Mackenzie Tour, with his first resulting in a missed cut last week at the Freedom 55 Financial Open.
• Previous to playing on the Mackenzie Tour, Fidone spent three years on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, from 2015-2017, winning the Honduras Open in 2016.
• Brad Miller shot the low round of the day. Without a single square on his scorecard, the Baltimore, Maryland, native made six birdies to shoot 64 and jump 32 spots into a tie for fifth at 9-under.
• Paul McConnell, who came into the third round tied for sixth, at 8-under, played 74 consecutive holes without a bogey, going back to the third round of the Freedom 55 Financial Classic. McConnell’s streak ended on the 14^th hole as he made three bogeys in his final five holes to shoot 71.
• Jared Du Toit of Kimberly, British Columbia, had a productive moving day, making four birdies and two bogeys for a 68 and his third consecutive round under par. Du Toit goes into Sunday in third place, just three off the lead.
• Despite losing a ball on the 18^th hole and finishing with a double bogey, Zach Wright heads into the final round tied for fifth, five strokes off the chase. Wright followed up each of his three front-nine birdies with a bogey on the following hole.
• Thirteen players sit within six shots of Sam Fidone’s lead, including three Canadians.

Quotable

“The wind opens some room for a little more error. I can work it back into the wind or against the wind, but the last three holes played tough because the wind died. If it’s blowing, then I want it to keep going the whole day in the same direction.” – Sam Fidone

“I was really wanting to get into the final group today, but I guess it worked out for the best for me. Yesterday helped me a lot, in those rainy conditions it was important to stay patient and stick to the game plan, I actually think that calmed me down for the rest of the week.” – Sam Fidone

“It was a lot tougher today, that wind can get you. A lot of those tee shots look a little tighter for sure with those crosswinds and even the downwinds. With it firming up and not being able to control the rollout as much, you can end up in some sticky situations sometimes.” – Jared Du Toit

 “I made a nice birdie on the 12^th and got a couple ‘woohoo’s’ and claps, which is cool. Tomorrow will probably be more of the same and I’m excited for it.” .– Jared Du Toit

“My goal was to keep giving myself good looks. We talked about a slow start and we talked yesterday about staying patient, I did a really good job of that early and I gave myself some good looks on the back and capitalized.” – Jared Du Toit

“Today was completely different. It rained last night and softened it up a little bit, which made some pins more accessible. It didn’t really slow the course down all that much, but it definitely loosened it up a bit. The wind was good and gusty; it completely switched on 15 and we had to make some adjustments, a bit of wind really changes this golf course.” – Blake Sattler

“I got off to a really good start, I shot four under on the front thanks to the putter, I still hit it well to get me in those spots, but making 15, 20, 25 footers once in a while really jump starts things.”– Blake Sattler

“All the hard work is paying off. It was a bit of a struggle earlier in the spring, I had some issues, but we’re getting it back and it’s good to see some hard work paying off a little bit. I struggled with the putter this spring and driver last week, it’s just that winter rust coming out of Ohio.”– Blake Sattler

Third-Round Weather: Mixed sun and cloud. High of 17. Wind 20 KM/h.