Werbylo maintains lead at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic

 

Third-Round Leaderboard

The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic

Covered Bridge Golf Club

Sellersburg, Indiana

August 12, 2021

 

Full Leaderboard: 

Pos.	Name	Scores	Current Points List Position
1	Trevor Werbylo (U.S.)	63-65-63—191 (-22)	5
2	Ian Holt (U.S.)	69-65-61—195 (-18)	50
3	Luke Schniederjans (U.S.)	64-69-63—196 (-17)	8
T4	A.J. Crouch (U.S.)	68-65-64—197 (-16)	N/A
T4	Cooper Musselman (U.S.)	61-69-67—197 (-16)	31

 

Werbylo maintains lead at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic 

 

SELLERSBURG, Indiana— Trevor Werbylo carded a 63 on moving day at the Fuzzy Zoeller Classic at Covered Bridge Golf Club to take control entering the final round. Werbylo leads Ian Holt by three strokes. Third place belongs Luke Schniederjans, who like Werbylo signed a 63 Thursday.

“It was really good, especially on the back nine. I

started making some putts. Each round I’ve finished better than I started, and so that’s good. I’m very pleased.” said Werbylo, who has only registered one bogey this week at the Covered Bridge Golf Club.

Werbylo started with birdies at Nos. 1, 5 and 6. His only bogey of the day—this week—came on the seventh, but he recovered two holes later, taking advantage of the par-5. On the back nine, Werbylo, until two months ago an Arizona Wildcat, was again aggressive from the tee and on his first four holes of that part of the course. He carded three birdies. On Nos. 15 and 18, he made two additional birdies that gave him his four-shot cushion with 18 holes to play.

“Making birdie on nine got me some momentum going into the back nine. I started making some mid-range putts,” Werbylo added. “I hit a couple of wedge shots close and played some really solid golf. I didn’t make too many mistakes.”

Werbylo was the only player in the top five on the Points List to make the cut. This week he began 146 points behind Points List leader Turk Pettit. If Werbylo goes on to win, he will take over the top spot with three events remaining in the season and be in great position to move on to the Korn Ferry Tour as a Points List top-five finisher.

Already this year, Werbylo has two top-10s—at the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club, where he lost a playoff to Samuel Saunders, and at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational, tying for sixth outside Chicago.

“I knew [22-under] was out there, and if I played really well I could be at this number after three rounds. To start the week, that’s a pretty high expectation to have, so, no, I wasn’t expecting to be 22-under after three rounds. Coming into the week, I knew you would have to shoot some low scores to compete.” concluded Werbylo, who has his dad, Roger, as a caddie this week.

The 25-year-old Holt made 10 birdies Thursday to sign a 61 that as he tied the low score of the week set by Cooper Musselman in the first round. This season, Holt he has made four of five cuts, his best result a tie for 10th at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational.

Schniederjans, the Georgia Tech graduate, got off to a strong start with four birdies and an eagle at No. 6. On the back nine, he made three birdies and a bogey at 11. At 17-under and No. 8 on the Points List, Schniederjans managed to climb six spots on the leaderboard. Friday, he’ll join Werbylo and Holt in the final group of the day.

A.J. Crouch entered this week's tournament through the open qualifier played last week at the Champions Pointe Golf Club. Thursday, he posted a bogey-free 64, putting him into a tie for fourth place with first-round leader Cooper Musselman. Crouch most recently was playing on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, where he finished inside the top 60 to retain his status for the 2021-22 season.

Did you know Jason Thresher won the Massachusetts Open three years in a row? The 32-year-old did it between 2016 and 2018. The last time he won, he did so with a score of 11-under, beating current Korn Ferry Tour member Evan Harmeling by one shot. Thresher shot a 65 at Covered Bridge Golf Club on Thursday, and he moved into a tie for 14th, at 13-under.

Key Information

• Trevor Werbylo’s 22-under 191 is easily the lowest 54-hole score this year. Mac Meissner was at 20-under 196 through three rounds at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Championship.  
• The four-shot lead Trevor Werbylo takes into the final round is not the largest 54-hole advantage this season. At the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational, Mac Meissner held a five-shot cushion with 18 holes to play. He eventually won by three strokes.
• The hole-in-one by Eric Ansett on the eighth hole Thursday was the Forme Tour’s fifth ace this season. The others came from Alex Smalley (L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club); Trevor Werbylo, (Auburn University Club Invitational); and George Markham and Jonathan Brightwell (both at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational)
• Eric Ansett was 3-over through the first eight holes of The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic. He’s 17-under in his last 46 holes, led by his 7-under 64 Thursday. Ansett is at 14-under overall and tied for eighth with 18 holes to play. 
• Matt Ryan was unable to continue his torrid play. The second-round co-leader shot a 1-under 70 Thursday. The current Korn Ferry Tour member made the turn at 4-under, but a triple bogey at the 10th forced him down the leaderboard. In his last six holes of the day, Ryan made two pars, two birdies and two bogeys. He enters the final round tied for sixth.
• Final-round tee times will be from 7:30 a.m., to 9:20 a.m., with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10—in threesomes.
• The par-4 14th hole (501 yards) played as the hardest hole Thursday, with a scoring average of 4.125.
• The par-5 18th hole (563 yards) played as the easiest hole, Its scoring average was 4.469.
• This week’s champion will receive 500 points. In addition, he will claim $21,000 from the $120,000 purse.
• Thursday, Joseph Harrison fired an 8-under 63 to move inside the top 10. The runner-up at the Birck Boilermaker Classic was bogey-free.
• Of those currently inside the top 25, Daniel Hudson was the biggest mover of the third round. Hudson began the day tied for 48th, shot a 7-under 64 and moved up 31 places into a tie for 17th. He has progressively gotten better each day (69-68-64).
• The top non-American on the leaderboard is German’s Jeremy Paul. He moved into a tie for eighth after beginning the day tied for 34th, thanks to his 8-under 63 that included a birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie finish.

Quotable

 

“I was disappointed to make that bogey, but one bogey through 54 holes is obviously great. That’s been my key to success. Hopefully I can go out [Friday] and have a clean card.” – Trevor Werbylo

“There are a lot of birdies out there, and guys are shooting low scores. I have to go out [Friday] and have the same mindset I’ve had the last three days and try to make birdies.” – Trevor Werbylo

“I feel good. The game feels good. I look to continue what I’ve been doing for the last three days.” – Trevor Werbylo

“It was great. The wind was down early, and I took advantage of some of the early holes. I hit it pretty close and made all the putts I needed to make. It was a pretty stress-free round.” – Ian Holt

“I kept hitting it close; 10, 11 and 12 I didn’t really get anything going, then I caught fire and didn’t look back.” – Ian Holt on his five-birdie, one-par finish

“I hit it inside 10 feet on a lot of holes and made all the putts. That’s pretty much all it was.” – Ian Holt

“I feel like my game has been in a good place for a long time; the scores just haven’t shown it. I’m excited to get back out there and get the juices flowing.” – Ian Holt

“It was really good. I cooled off after the hole-in-one. I was 6-under through eight holes, and the back nine is a little tougher, so I didn’t stall out—I was hitting a lot of good shots—but I maybe didn’t score as well on the back nine. Obviously to get off to that start was awesome. I was already off to a really good start.” – Eric Ansett

“I hit a perfect 8-iron, right how I drew it up. I drew it with a right-to-left wind, and it landed maybe four feet short of the hole and trickled in. It was awesome.” – Eric Ansett on his hole-in-one on No. 8

“The wind was down this morning, compared to [Wednesday], so I thought conditions were really good for scoring. The greens are starting to firm up. Hopefully they put some tough pins [Friday] to get it a little tougher. But I thought the conditions were great today and felt like a good score was out there.” – Eric Ansett 

“I feel good. I’m just trying to keep doing what I have been doing the first two days.” – Eric Ansett 

Third-Round Weather:
Warm and sunny, with a high of 95. Wind NW at 10 mph.