John Mallinger
John Mallinger fired a 7-under 65 in Saturday's third round of the Nationwide Tour's Children's Hospital Classic to take a two-stroke lead over playing partner Billy Hurley.
Mallinger hit all 18 greens in regulation for the second time in three days and moved one step closer to his elusive first Nationwide Tour win. His 20-under 196 total is two ahead of Hurley and three better than Monday qualifier Brice Garnett, who shot 66 on Saturday.
Argentina's Miguel Carballo (66) is four back, while Australian Peter Lonard (64) and 2004 champion Justin Bolli (69) are five off the lead.
Reigning NCAA Individual Champion John Peterson of LSU, who is making his professional debut this week, shot a 10-under 62 to get to 14-under par, where he is tied for seventh with Matt Every (66) and Aaron Goldberg (67).
Jon Mills of Belleville, Ont., stumbled to a 1-over 73 on Saturday after finishing double bogey-bogey. He is 15 shots behind Mallinger.
Mallinger has posted five consecutive top-10 finishes, one shy of the Nationwide Tour's all-time record. His run started back in May at the Stadion Classic at UGA. His four most recent top-10s started when he failed to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs at the end of August.