Van Pelt grabs lead in Perth International

PERTH, Australia: American Bo Van Pelt shot a 5-under 67 yesterday to snatch a 1-shot lead over compatriot Jason Dufner after the third round of the Perth International.
Van Pelt, who started the day in second place four shots behind Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo and a shot ahead of Dufner, grabbed the lead when a faltering Grillo bogeyed two of his last three holes.
The 20-year-old Grillo led at 11 under overnight and moved to 13 under with birdies at the sixth and ninth holes.
Bogeys at 10 and 11 brought him back to the chasing group and Dufner, who also shot 67 on Saturday, took a share of the lead with five birdies between the seventh and 12th holes.
Grillo reclaimed a 1-shot lead with a birdie at 12 but Van Pelt finished strongly with four birdies over the last eight holes to lead going into Sunday’s final round.
Van Pelt sealed his lead with a monster 55-yard putt for birdie on the 18th hole.
“Once in a while the hole just gets in the way,” Van Pelt said. “I was just trying to get the ball down there and two-putt. Lo and behold, the thing goes in the hole.
“It was just nice to finish with a birdie like that and hopefully, I’ll take momentum in tomorrow.”
Van Pelt said the No. 516-ranked Grillo remained a threat going into the final round. The Argentine, battling to secure his European Tour card, is currently ranked 112th in the Race to Dubai with the top 115 after next month’s Hong Kong Open retaining their cards for next season.
“He played a lot better than his score today,” Van Pelt said. “For such a young player his upside is tremendous.
“He’s going to have a great career and win a lot of tournaments. He probably had five or six putts that looked like they were going in, but hit the edge. That’s just golf. Some days they go in, other days they hit the edge.”
Dufner finished in outright second place, one shot behind Van Pelt at 11-under 205. Grillo was third overall, a shot further back while Alejandro Canizares of Spain and David Howell of England were tied for fourth at 209, 7 under par.
Atwal sets pace at Sea Island, Furyk and Love one back
Meantime, India’s Arjun Atwal carded eight birdies and a lone bogey to rocket into a one-shot lead over Davis Love III and Jim Furyk after Friday’s second round of the McGladrey Classic at Sea Island in Georgia.
Atwal has not won anywhere since his maiden PGA Tour win in 2010 and his best finish this year is a share of 19th place at the St. Jude Classic in June but the 39-year-old was sublime en route to a seven-under-par 63 on the Seaside Course.
It moved Atwal, who has made just 11 cuts in 25 starts this year, to a 10-under-par total 130, one shot clear of host and 2012 US Ryder Cup captain Love (66) and veteran Furyk (65) at nine under.
PGA Tour rookie and overnight co-leader Bud Cauley was two shots off the pace after following up his opening-round 62 with an even-par 70, in a share of fourth place with Americans David Toms (67) and Australian Gavin Coles (65) at eight-under.
American Michael Thompson (68) was in a group of six players tied for seventh place, three shots behind Atwal.