Miles Russell is really on a roll now.
The 17-year-old Jacksonville Beach native fired a bogey-free 64 in the third round of the 124th Western Amateur on July 30 at the Beverly Country Club in Chicago, and took a one-shot lead entering the afternoon round on a marathon day.
Russell is 15-under-par 198, with Auburn sophomore Logan Reilly (68), University of North Carolina sophomore Carson Bertagnole (67) and Kayun Mudadana of Australia (67) tied for second at 14-under.
The 36-hole field of 45 players will be trying to make the top 16 after the fourth round and qualify for match play on July 31 and Aug. 1. Russell, who lost in the U.S. Junior Amateur championship match last week, teed off at 1:54 p.m.
For the second day in a row, Russell made his
run between Nos. 11-14 at Beverly, one of the oldest clubs in America. He birdied all four holes in the third round, duplicating his feat of the previous day. In three rounds, Russell has played those holes at 10-under with no bogeys.
Russell is trying to add to the tradition of First Coast and South Georgia Western Amateur winners. Past champions have been Jeff Klauk of Ponte Vedra Beach (2002), Bubba Dickerson of Fernandina Beach (2001), Billy Tuten of Palatka (1983) and Steve Melnyk of Brunswick, Ga. (1969).
Other past winners include major champions Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Hal Sutton and Justin Leonard.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Miles Russell posts 64 to take third-round lead in Western Amateur
