LAKEWOOD RANCH, Florida – Beginning the day three strokes off the lead, Mark Hubbard shot the low round of the day with an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke advantage at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. The 29-year-old tallied eight birdies to post a 21-under total through three rounds at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.

“I’ve been playing really well the last couple of weeks,” said Hubbard, a San Jose State University alum. “I’ve been up there in birdies every week, it’s just come with to many mistakes. My goal this week was to limit my mistakes and play the hard holes well.”

Hubbard has been successful limiting mistakes through three rounds, leading the field with only three scores of bogey or worse all week. He’s also third in birdies made with 22 through three rounds. He credited a mental turnaround in Panamá for his low rounds this week.

“I feel like these last five rounds I’ve played, two in Panama and three here, I’ve grown more in those rounds than I have in the last year and a half,” Hubbard said. “I’m really just enjoying being back in the mix since it’s been a while … I’m nervous, I’m not going to lie. If you’re not nervous then you don’t care. It’s just about managing those nerves.”

Hubbard credited his ball-striking on what he described as a “total second-shot golf course.” He ranks T13 in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation, but described his best shot as having a little extra motivation behind it.

“I missed the eagle putt, but my shot into No. 16 was 255 or 260 out and I launched a 4-iron to about eight feet,” Hubbard said. “We were just on the clock, so I think I was a little bit heated and just harnessed that energy into my shot.”

Local Jimmy Stanger and former world No. 1 amateur Maverick McNealy sit two shots off of Hubbard’s pace. Stanger tied for the second-lowest round of the day with a 7-under 65 in front of a crowd of plenty of friends and family.

“I’m sleeping in my own bed, about 45 minutes to downtown Tampa,” Stanger said. “It’s been nice to have an incredible crowd out here watching us. I probably had 20 friends out here, and then adding a ton of fans from the area cheering on every shot, it’s been awesome.”

Stanger’s 65 included two eagles, five birdies and two bogeys, but his round was almost even more impressive. The University of Virginia alum lipped out on what would have been an albatross on the par-5 16th before tapping in for eagle.

“It felt like the ball ended up next to the hole on every single hole, and I would go tap it in for birdie," Stanger said. "I must have had five or six putts inside six feet for birdie. I had 255 to the pin on 16 downwind and hit a 5-iron to the front edge and it lipped out. Most relaxing tap-in I’ve had in a long time.”

McNealy, who began the day tied for the lead, enjoyed a rocky front nine before settling in to post a 3-under 69. McNealy bogeyed the first, and after birdieing the fourth, took a double bogey at the eighth to go 2-over for the day. He righted the ship with a birdie at the ninth and an eagle at the 10th before adding birdies at the 14th and 16th coming in. The Stanford alum is seeking his first Web.com Tour victory in his second season on Tour.

Final-round tee times will run from 7:20 a.m. – 12:55 p.m. off the first tee.

SATURDAY NOTES

• Saturday’s weather: Sunny, high of 77, winds S/SW at 5-15 miles per hour.
• The second round concluded on Saturday morning after being suspended Friday evening due to darkness. The cut fell at 5-under 139 with 65 players earning weekend play. The cut is the lowest of the 2019 season so far.
• At 17-under 199, J.T. Griffin sits solo-fourth entering the final round. Griffin carded a 65 on Monday to qualify into the tournament. Last week Mickey DeMorat finished T7 after Monday qualifying, but before that, a Monday qualifier hadn’t finished top-10 since May of 2018 (Chris Naegel, T7, Nashville Golf Open).
• Chase Seiffert is solo-fifth at 16-under, the top rookie on the leaderboard thus far. Seiffert’s best career finish is T8 at the 2018 Web.com Tour Championship.
• Former Masters champion (2003) Mike Weir has remained in contention in front of a large crowd of “snowbirds,” some even sporting Canadian gear. Weir carded a 3-under 69 on Saturday and enters the final round at T10.
• At T6, Rick Lamb is going for the “LECOM Sweep” with a win on Sunday. He won the inaugural LECOM Health Challenge in 2016 at Peek'n Peak Resort.
• Hubbard hasn’t had a top-10 finish in the United States since 2015. He posted two last year, one in Mexico and one in Great Abaco, Bahamas.
• Out of four Web.com Tour tournaments so far in 2019, two have been won by the 54-hole leader. The other two were T5 (Rafael Campos) and T7 (Michael Gligic) entering the final round. In 2018, the 54-hole lead was converted into a victory 10 times in 26 attempts.
• This week’s purse is $550,000, with $99,000 going to the champion. The champion will also earn 500 points in the Web.com Tour points system.
• Forty former Web.com Tour champions are competing in the field, amounting to 57 victories, as well as 12 PGA TOUR champions (equaling 30 victories).
• The par-4 second hole (491 yards) has ranked toughest hole on the course through three rounds with a scoring average of 4.555.
• The par-5 16th hole (563 yards) has ranked as the easiest hole through three rounds. The hole has played to an average of 4.306 through three rounds.