Michael Brennan, who led the field when play was suspended Friday evening due to darkness, maintained his edge on Saturday, shooting a seven-under-par 64 to open up a two-stroke lead on the field at the Bank of Utah Championship in Utah.
Brennan, in his first PGA Tour start as a professional and just a third overall, endured a double-bogey on the second hole before settling into the kind of golf that had initially given him the lead.
"I have a great opportunity tomorrow, so try to take advantage of it, stay focused, but also play golf at River Creek," Brennan said.
"I was a little nervous definitely. I don't think it was anything crazy. Nothing that I hadn't experienced playing professional golf on the Americas Tour. I felt like those experiences were pretty similar, which I'm very happy about. I've had some experience, and I hope to draw on that tomorrow."
A birdie on the fourth and an eagle on the seventh kickstarted his day, which saw him record five birdies over a six-hole stretch from nine to 14 to retake control..
He finished his day with another birdie on the last
"I'm obviously very happy with how I finished this round," he said.
Brennan's closest competitor is fellow American Matt McCarty, who shot a matching seven-under a year after winning this event. His day featured eight birdies juxtaposed against two bogeys.
"Happy to be in that position and awesome for me that it's at the same course as last year, too," McCarty said.
Tied for third at 14-under are the Philippines' Rico Hoey (63), Thailand's Kevin Yu (63) and Pierceson Coody (66).
Yu was flawless, recording six birdies and an eagle on 14.
"I didn't make any mistakes out there. Just really solid off the tee, through the tee, from the tee to the putting," Yu said.
"I'll just focus on what I have to do tomorrow, just one shot at a time."
Seamus Power sits in a tie for 52nd after a 68, his best round of the week so far.
