McGreevy and Jung share 54-hole lead in Beijing
BEIJING, CHINA—American Max McGreevy shot a 5-under 67 to share the 54-hole lead with Canada's Richard Jung (65) at the RMB 1.6 million Beijing Championship, the fourth event of the PGA TOUR Series-China.
Jung posted the clubhouse lead, at 15-under, which was later matched by McGreevy, who was playing in the penultimate group at Topwin Golf and Country Club. The duo will play in the final group Sunday with American Ryann Ree, who lies just one shot behind, in solo third, after carding a 68.
McGreevy, who played on the Web.com Tour in 2018, is having a great start in his first year in China and is currently fifth on the Order of Merit after recording two top-fives in the season's opening two events in Chongqing and Sanya but is still hunting for his first PGA TOUR-affiliated victory. After bogeying his final hole of the first round, he has gone bogey-free since, with 11 birdies and an eagle.
"I've been in contention a few times, and it gives me more confidence going into the final round. I just want to keep knocking on the door, and if I can give myself as many chances as I can, then maybe I can come away victorious tomorrow," said McGreevy. "I'm just trying to shoot the lowest round that I can and see what I can do."
McGreevy's performance is even more impressive given that he was close to withdrawing at the start of the tournament before deciding to push on and play the first two rounds despite not feeling well due to intestinal issues.
"Honestly, I was so dizzy, I didn't pay attention the first two rounds but today I was actually more focused, and I thought it was the worst of the three rounds," said McGreevy. "But I'm excited for another round out here, and it's a beautiful golf course. It's just fun to play. We had a little bit of a crowd out there, which is nice. Hopefully people come out again tomorrow."
Jung, who finished 11th on the Tour's Order of Merit in 2018, is bidding to win his second Tour title after claiming last year's Suzhou Open and will be a tough contender if he can repeat his performance today [Saturday], where he carded eight birdies and one bogey.
"The wind picked up a lot in the afternoon, but I just stuck with my game plan. I hit fairways and greens and executed the putts," said Jung. "We still have 18 holes to go, and it's a final day so a lot can happen. Hopefully I can just keep hitting the same way and play well and we'll see what happens."
China's Huilin Zhang, runner-up of last year's Beijing Championship, carded a 67 to lie in fourth with Canada's Myles Creighton (68). Second-round leader Kevin Yuan of Australia shot 71 to drop into a tie for sixth with former European Tour player Cyril Bouniol (67) of France.
Did you know that Max McGreevy played 16 events on the 2018 Web.com Tour and made seven cuts, his best finish a tie for 38th at the Knoxville Open.
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