A year ago, the top finish by a Canadian in this tournament came from Adam Hadwin, who tied for 37th. Now he’s trying to do a whole lot better than that.

Hadwin, who along with David Hearn entered the weekend as the low Canadians on the leaderboard, is now in the lead after birdies on three of his first four holes.

The last time a Canadian won this tournament was more than 50 years ago when Pat Fletcher captured the title in 1954.

With the rough down a bit from the first two rounds, Hadwin’s ball-striking has been very good in the early going of the third round. All three of his birdies have come from inside 10 feet and he’s only missed one green so far.

Now we’ll see if Hadwin can hold it together the rest of the round. He’s been very good on the first few holes this week -- he’s played Nos. 1 through 3 in a combined 5 under so far. Click here to follow Hadwin live with Shot Tracker .

Adam Hadwin, the former University of Louisville player who has been trying to get his TOUR card, somehow birdied the brutal 17th and 18th holes to finish 5 under, one shot ahead of Nationwide Tour regular Jon Mills, who bogeyed the 18th to finish one shot back of Hadwin.

Hadwin had some big help this week in the form of caddie Craig Sinclair, who has logged countless rounds at St. George's.

Hadwin is sure to cash a pretty good check this week, but he has awhile to go to repay his sponsors. Most young players have to borrow money to hit the tour -- any tour -- and Hadwin is no exception.

"I got $60,000 to start," Hadwin said. "Well, they get -- after all my expenses are paid for the year, they get 75 percent of the earnings. After the first year, I think it's 13 percent. So I made them a deal they couldn't refuse.

"I'm hoping they're watching this and I can only give them the 10 back and they'll be happy with that. So I hope you're watching."

With Mike Weir missing the cut and Stephen Ames mired deep in the pack, the low Canadian right is ... Adam Hadwin.

And yes, he is making his first PGA TOUR start. So far, it's been a pretty good one.

This much we know about Hadwin: He made it to the second stage of q-school last year and played collegiately at the University of Louisville, where he majored in Business Management.

Right now, he is 1 under on the day and 7 under on the tournament, a shot ahead of fellow Canadian Jon Mills, who is is 6 under. Mills played on the PGA TOUR in 2008 but lost his card and had to go back to the Nationwide Tour, where he sits 26th on the money list.