Ricky Castillo leveraged a hot streak of four birdies over five holes in the middle of his round Saturday to grab the lead heading into the final round of the Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
“This is the position that all of us have dreamed of and want to be in a chance to win a golf tournament,” Castillo said. “I’ve been fortunate to have that opportunity a few times and haven’t gotten it done, so, hopefully, we’ll do it tomorrow.
“In the end, we’re just trying to play the best we can and just stick to my process and focus on what I can control.”
Castillo, who went bogey free, has remarkably fired a matching 4-under-par 68 through each of his first three rounds to get to 12 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of the competition.
That consistency was again on display Saturday, as Castillo rarely found himself in trouble despite windy conditions giving other golfers fits.
“It was really whipping out there and blowing and it could really get tricky at times,” Castillo said. “When it’s blowing that much, it’s really hard to trust yourself and trust the line, especially when it’s gusting. But I felt like I did a really good job of managing my game, managing my emotions today really well, so it was good.”
Rookie Chandler Blanchet had been grabbing the headlines through the first two rounds of the alternate event opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational as the pole-setter, but his day was all over the place, beginning with three bogeys over his first five holes (including the first two).
After two pars, he went birdie, bogey, birdie, par, birdie before adding another bogey for good measure on No. 14, leaving him at 2-over 74 to fall into a tie for second place.
“Yeah, it was a grind. No one said it was going to be easy,” Blanchet said. “The more you’re in these positions, the more comfortable you’re going to be. The more often you can get in this, the more often it’s going to go in your favor towards the end.”
Tied with Blanchet at 11 under are England’s John Parry (68), Germany’s Matti Schmid (68) and 18-year-old Blades Brown (69).
Parry teed off with three birdies over his first four, while Schmid took a little longer to get going, getting birdies on Nos. 9-11 and 14. In contrast, Brown suffered two early bogeys and rescued his day with an eagle on 14 thanks to a winding putt.
“It broke right and then left, and then left again. Then as it went down the hill, it just broke right,” Brown described. “And luckily enough, I got the speed correct and it snuck in the left side.”
Davis Thompson (65) and Germany’s Jeremy Paul (70) are also within striking distance, two strokes behind Castillo at 10 under.
Gordon Sargent, in second place 24 hours earlier, fell into a tie for eighth by turning in an even card. That still leaves him just three shots off the pace, underscoring the width of the leaderboard, where 19 players are within four strokes of Castillo.
One of those players is amateur John Daly II, son of two-time major champ John Daly, who got to 9 under with a 2-under 70.
