McCumber in familiar spot at The Players Cup

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McCumber in familiar spot at The Players Cup

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Canada—Tyler McCumber has been in this situation before. Twice, in fact.

For the third time in four weeks, the 27-year-old will take a lead into the final round on the Mackenzie Tour, as a 7-under 65 propelled him to a one-shot advantage over Drew Weaver Saturday at The Players Cup. McCumber won in both previous instances, which came in consecutive starts at the Osprey Valley Open and Syncrude Oil Country Championship.

“Today was definitely my best day,” he said following his round at Southwood Golf & Country Club. “I was a little more relaxed, a little more in the flow, in the zone. I was hitting good shots and really, just really not as anxious today. Just went out there and kind of freewheeled it.”

McCumber, who also finished third last week at the ATB Financial Classic, carded consecutive birdies on Nos. 3, 4 and 5, then added a fourth birdie on No. 9. He pulled into a tie atop the leaderboard with an eagle on the par-5 No. 16, then took the lead for good with a birdie on the 18th hole. He was bogey-free for the second straight day.

“It was nice to kind of get some momentum and pace,” said McCumber, the top-ranked player on the Order of Merit. “I felt like today it was easier to get good mojo going and keep the momentum. I’m looking forward to that tomorrow. Obviously twosomes will play pretty quick.”

The University of Florida graduate will play in Sunday’s final pairing once again with Weaver, who he also paired with in the fourth round at the Osprey Valley Open. Weaver finished tied for third that day and will look to earn his first victory on the Mackenzie Tour since the 2015 Freedom 55 Financial Open.

“I finally converted one on the ninth for eagle, and that’s a big boost, obviously,” said Weaver, who also shot 7-under 65. “But once I got a piece of momentum, I just kind of ran with it. And that’s what I’ve tried to tell myself most of the summer, is that if I could just get a little bit of momentum in any way, shape or form, that I’m going to do my best to build on it.”

Key Information

• Tyler McCumber has shot 65 or better in nine of his last 15 rounds, dating back to his win at The Osprey Valley Open. He has hit the number in each of his last two rounds at The Players Cup.
• Drew Weaver credited caddie David Nelson for his third-round performance, noting his intimate knowledge of the greens. Nelson is a Southwood Golf & Country Club member and medical student at the University of Manitoba.
• Weaver is one of the more experienced players on the Mackenzie Tour. He spent the last two seasons on the Web.com Tour and has played in three of the four major championships: the 2007 Open Championship, 2008 Masters Tournament and 2009 U.S. Open Championship.
• James Love and Michael Gligic enter Sunday in a tie for ninth at 13 under overall to lead all Canadians in the field. Love shot a 2-under 70 Saturday while Gligic carded a 1-under 71.
• George Cunningham may trail leader Tyler McCumber by two shots heading into the final round, but the 23-year-old should still like his odds of earning his second victory of the season. Twice this year a winner has trailed by three strokes entering Sunday: T.T. Crouch at the Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open and Ben Griffin at the Staal Foundation Open.
• Stoney Crouch moved to 12 under overall after posting a 6-under 66. He did so thanks in part to birdies on three of the four par-3s, each coming on putts outside 10 feet. He connected on a 15-foot putt on No. 2 to start his day, followed with a 20-foot putt on No. 11 and ended the round with a 10-foot putt on No. 17.
• Eagles on Nos. 13 and 16 helped Tanner Kesterson post a 5-under 67, which moved him to 12 under for the week and into a tie for 12th. The Oklahoma State University product, continuing his recovery from hip surgery, played in just three events prior to this week, and missed the cut in each of his last two starts.

Quotable

“It was definitely a good day, I’m getting comfortable up there for sure. I really did want to get a couple birdies or gain a couple shots back on the last couple holes to get near that last group, if not in it. There’s been some stuff I’ve been working on mentally down the stretch in the final rounds in the last group, and I want to put it into play tomorrow.” – Tyler McCumber

“I could walk away from the game and say I’ve done some really incredible things, so it’s good to have that perspective. But I still am very hungry to do well and get back there where I know I belong.” – Drew Weaver on getting back to the Web.com Tour

“I know I can contend on every level, and I just want to utilize these starts to help me make my Fall a little easier, and give me some momentum and go tee it wherever I can. I signed up for Tour School, and it’s probably my last go at it. I’m 31, so I’ve got a lot of motivation. Not really pressure, because pressure is just relative. It’s just golf. I’ve just got to go out there and play golf, talk through shots with my caddie, but I’m super thrilled to have this place to play.” – Drew Weaver

“It was a completely different golf course today. I was talking to one of the guys yesterday and said if I felt like I could have shot 2- or 3-under today—and I shot 3-under today—I felt like that was going to possibly be leading. And I’m in third, down by two right now. Obviously McCumber and Weaver, I don’t know what golf course they were playing today. But that was an impressive round. I’m really happy with my round today, I thought the course played pretty tough.” – George Cunningham

“It’s going to take a good round tomorrow. With the way McCumber has been playing, I can’t imagine he’s going to back off. So I’m looking to go out and have a good round. If I finish up higher than him, great, if not, he’s probably going to win again.” – George Cunningham

“I got it going early. We were playing fast today, so I kind of got into a bit of a rhythm. We played in probably an hour less than we did yesterday. We didn’t have to wait any, we just rolled on through the whole round.” – Stoney Crouch

You Should Know

Tyler McCumber and Drew Weaver were paired together for the final round of the Osprey Valley Open on July 22. McCumber entered the day with a seven-shot advantage before holding on to win by one stroke. He shot even-par 72 that day to finish at 25-under overall, while Michael Gellerman finished runner-up thanks to a final-round 65. Weaver finished tied for third at 20-under following a final-round 70.

Third-Round Weather: Mostly sunny. High of 30. Wind S at 30 kph with gusts up to 50 kph.