Baddeck, N.S. – Wilmer, Alabama’s Robby Shelton and Lexington, Kentucky’s Hunter Stewart shot a pair of matching 5-under 67s on Saturday at Bell Bay Golf Club to share the 54-hole lead at the Cape Breton Open, the 10th event of the 2017 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.
Shelton and Stewart, who represented the United States together at the 2015 Walker Cup, played together on Saturday and reached 13-under for the tournament through three rounds, one stroke ahead of Order of Merit leader Kramer Hickok.
“It was fun. Playing with Hunter is always fun and we hadn’t done that in a while, but it’s always fun to play with one of your friends. I got off to a hot start and after that it was just a cruise all the way to 18, and he was playing really well as well,” said Shelton, who currently sits No. 3 on the Order of Merit and looks to become the first multiple-time winner this season on Sunday.
“It was very comfortable. I was able to play with one of my better friends out here and a guy I’ve played with as a teammate and a partner, so it was a lot of fun. We kind of fed off each other. We both played solid and it was great to see good golf,” said Stewart.
Starting the day four strokes off the lead held by California’s Cody Blick, Shelton quickly caught up with four birdies on the front nine, while Stewart slowly played catch-up to Shelton as Blick faltered to a 2-over 74.
The pair both secured birdies at the par-5 18th with a pair of deft pitches to reach 13-under, one ahead of Hickok, who fired the best round of the day with a 6-under 66 on Saturday.
A stroke further behind in a tie for fourth were Murray, Kentucky’s Patrick Newcomb and West Linn, Oregon’s Zach Foushee at 11-under.