This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Farmington • By now, the story is not so much that someone tied the course record in the third round of the Utah Championship. The real news is that Jacques Blaauw's 61 was all he needed to move into a tie for the lead.

With inexperienced players teeing off in the day's last twosome and Oakridge Country Club becoming tougher as Saturday went along, the leading score moved only from 16 under par to 18 under in the third round of the $700,000 Web.com Tour event presented by Zions Bank.

Long after Blaauw finished his round, having jumped from a tie for 28th place with eight birdies and an eagle, Rob Oppenheim caught him with a 20-foot, downhill birdie putt on No. 18. They will enter Sunday's final round one stroke ahead of Denny McCarthy, who missed a short birdie try on the last hole, with Andrew Landry another shot behind.

Saturday became a struggle for Christian Brand, who went from 61 in the second round to 70 in the third round, and Kyle Wilshire, who lost his 36-hole lead and much more by going from 62 to 74. Nobody would have imagined 18 under leading after Saturday, the way the numbers were trending through two days.

"At the start of the day, I wouldn't have thought that," Oppenheim said, "but after being out there, I can see why."

Oppenheim overcame two bogeys to post a 5-under-par 66, the lowest score of anyone who played in Saturday's last six twosomes — while earlier starters were posting a 61, 62 and 63.

Oakridge's greens became firmer, faster and "kind of baked out" in the 100-degree temperatures of the late afternoon, Oppenheim said. Brand and Wilshire felt the heat in multiple ways, with the opportunity to save their seasons. Brand made four straight bogeys in the middle of the round, but steadied himself enough to finish in a tie for fifth place, three strokes back.

But now he only shares the course record with Blaauw, a 31-year-old South African who summarized his year by saying, "When I make the cut, I play well. Obviously, [I've] just got to get to the weekend."

No kidding. Blaauw has placed in the top 10 twice this season, while missing the cut in his other 10 previous starts. Blaauw and Oppenheim each could clinch a PGA Tour card with a victory Sunday, worth $126,000.

Oppenheim has made barely more than $50,000 on the Web.com Tour in 2017. That's not counting the $216,000 he earned for a tie for eighth in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February, playing via a sponsor exemption. The Massachusetts native played in the same foursome with New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick for three rounds on Monterey Peninsula, creating a memorable experience with one qualifier: That money is spendable, but not helpful in his bid to return to the PGA Tour.

He knows as well as anyone how every dollar matters. Competing in the Web.com Tour Finals last fall, trying to regain his PGA Tour access, he finished $392 short.

Oppenheim, 37, is a Web.com Tour veteran with a 2015 victory among his credentials, but he never has played in the last twosome on Sunday. He's also aware that with all of the low-60s scores that have been shot at Oakridge this week, the final round is unlikely to become a duel between him and Blaauw, as they tee off at 3 p.m. That's because 15 players are within four shots of the lead.

"I'm happy to be where I am," Oppenheim said, "but I know I've got to go low again."

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt —

Saturday's scores

Web.com – Utah Championship

At Oakridge Country Club

Farmington, Utah

Purse: $700,000

Yardage: 7,045; Par 71

Third Round

Jacques Blaauw 66-68-61 — 195

Rob Oppenheim 66-63-66 — 195

Denny McCarthy 69-63-64 — 196

Andrew Landry 68-65-64 — 197

Nicholas Thompson 65-71-62 — 198

Adam Schenk 65-67-66 — 198

Ben Silverman 66-67-65 — 198

Brice Garnett 64-65-69 — 198

Christian Brand 67-61-70 — 198

Austin Cook 67-69-63 — 199

Michael Johnson 69-66-64 — 199

Mark Anguiano 68-65-66 — 199

Blake Adams 68-64-67 — 199

Adam Long 67-65-67 — 199

Luke Guthrie 67-65-67 — 199

Brandon Harkins 66-70-64 — 200

Jon Curran 68-68-64 — 200

Mark Hensby 67-68-65 — 200

Michael Arnaud 67-68-65 — 200

Nate Lashley 67-68-65 — 200

Peter Lonard 70-65-65 — 200

Bo Hoag 67-68-65 — 200

Matt Atkins 62-73-65 — 200

Wes Roach 64-70-66 — 200

Tom Lovelady 65-68-67 — 200

John Chin 68-65-67 — 200

Billy Kennerly 66-66-68 — 200

Tyler Duncan 63-66-71 — 200

Kyle Wilshire 64-62-74 — 200

Beau Hossler 68-68-65 — 201

Dawie van der Walt 68-68-65 — 201

Greg Yates 72-64-65 — 201

Zack Fischer 67-69-65 — 201

Tommy Gainey 67-68-66 — 201

Jeff Gove 68-67-66 — 201

Vince Covello 66-69-66 — 201

Jason Gore 67-67-67 — 201

Roberto Diaz 66-68-67 — 201

Sam Ryder 67-65-69 — 201

Jim Knous 67-65-69 — 201

Abraham Ancer 67-63-71 — 201

Taylor Moore 66-63-72 — 201

Roger Sloan 67-69-66 — 202

Ben Taylor 67-69-66 — 202

David Skinns 65-70-67 — 202

Anders Albertson 67-68-67 — 202

Alexandre Rocha 69-66-67 — 202

Erik Barnes 70-64-68 — 202

Jimmy Gunn 69-65-68 — 202

Zecheng Dou 66-67-69 — 202

Michael Gellerman 65-68-69 — 202

James Driscoll 62-68-72 — 202

Ben J. Campbell 70-66-67 — 203

Max Rottluff 68-68-67 — 203

Carlos Ortiz 68-67-68 — 203

Blake D. Trimble 69-66-68 — 203

Andrew Yun 67-68-68 — 203

Samuel Del Val 67-65-71 — 203

Scott Gutschewski 67-69-68 — 204

Brian Davis 66-69-69 — 204

Byron Smith 66-68-70 — 204

D.H. Lee 66-67-71 — 204

Greg Eason 69-63-72 — 204

Michael Letzig 69-67-69 — 205

Jeremy Paul 68-68-69 — 205

Andrew Putnam 69-66-70 — 205

Sepp Straka 67-68-70 — 205

Dan Woltman 68-66-71 — 205

Charlie Saxon 70-64-71 — 205

Lanto Griffin 66-65-74 — 205

Aaron Wise 70-66-70 — 206

Corey Conners 66-70-70 — 206

Scott Harrington 66-70-70 — 206

Kurt Kitayama 69-65-72 — 206

Chris Naegel 70-66-71 — 207

Matt Harmon 66-68-74 — 208

Max Marsico 66-69-76 — 211