Étienne Papineau heads into the final round of 2023 PanAmerican (PanAm) Games one shot back of leaders Sebastian Muñoz and Abraham Ancer, following a 5-under 67 on Saturday at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile.
With another strong round, Papineau of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que. moved to 15-under for the tournament, while Munoz and Ancer are at 16-under. Papineau recorded six birdies in his round, with three on the front nine and three on the back and had a share of the lead before an unfortunate bogey on the par 5 18th.
Muñoz of Colombia held a two-shot lead heading into the final round and recorded a 4-under 68 on Saturday, while Ancer of Mexico fired his way into tie for the lead with a 7-under 65 to join Muñoz at 16-under.
Independent Athletes Team member Jose Toledo moved up to fourth place at 12-under following a 5-under 67 on Saturday. Dylan Menante of the United States rounds out the top five at 11-under after shooting a 2-under 70.
Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S. followed up his solid second round with a 2-under 70 on Saturday. Creighton carded two birdies on the front nine and went on to record 10 consecutive pars on holes seven through 16. Following a bogey on 17, Creighton quickly grabbed a stroke back closing with a birdie on 18. Creighton now moves to 5-under and sits 13th.
Men’s Top 5 Standings following the third round of the 2023 Pan Am Games
| T1 | Sebastian Muñoz | Colombia | 66, 66, 68 | -16 |
| T1 | Abraham Ancer | Mexico | 68, 67, 65 | -16 |
| 3 | Étienne Papineau | Canada | 63, 71, 67 | -15 |
| 4 | Jose Toledo | Independent Athletes Team | 70, 67, 67 | -12 |
| 5 | Dylan Menante | United States | 66, 69, 70 | -11 |
Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont. improved to 6-under for the tournament following a round of 2-under 70 on Saturday and is tied for third, eight shots back of leader Sofia Garcia of Paraguay who sits at 14-under after three rounds.
Sharp recorded four of her five birdies on the back nine during her round to pull back under par. Garcia meanwhile takes a seven-shot lead over Valery Plata of Colombia in Sunday’s final round following a 5-under 67 on Saturday.
Maria Uribe of Colombia is tied with Sharp for third place at 6-under. Uribe recorded a 4-under 68 in round three. Magdalena Simmermacher of Argentina and Anna Davis of the United States are tied for fifth at 1-under.
Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont. recorded her best round of the tournament with a 2-over 74 on Saturday. Costabile is now at 11-over and sits tied for 19th.
Women’s Top 5 Standings following the third round of the 2023 Pan Am Games
| 1 | Sofia Garcia | Paraguay | 65, 70, 67 | -14 |
| 2 | Valery Plata | Colombia | 70, 70, 69 | -7 |
| T3 | Alena Sharp | Canada | 67, 73, 70 | -6 |
| T3 | Maria Uribe | Colombia | 69, 73, 68 | -6 |
| T5 | Magdalena Simmermacher | Argentina | 73, 71, 71 | -1 |
| T5 | Anna Davis | United States | 73, 74, 68 | -1 |
Golf joined the Pan American Games program at Toronto 2015. At Lima 2019, Team Canada consisting of, Austin Connelly, Mary Parsons, Joey Savoie and Brigitte Thibeault won the bronze medal, in the mixed team event, its first Pan Am Games medal in golf.
Santiago 2023 features individual events only in golf with 32 men and 32 women competing over 72-holes of stroke play. Sunday’s final round will begin at 7:00 a.m. local time, 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 a.m. PT.