Orem’s Zac Blair made eight birdies to make a charge on moving day at the Bank of Utah Black Deseret PGA Tour event in Ivins on Saturday.
Blair birdied holes 3,4,5, 7,11, 13, 14 and 18 to finish 9-under par with a third round of 67, 4-under.
After Blair made a birdie for the third time this week on the drivable Par 4 14th, he made bogeys on 16 and 17 to water down that charge.
He finished with four bogeys in this third round and posted a 4-under par day after going 6-under the first two rounds.
With rounds of 68-69 and 67, Blair trails leader Michael Brennan by 8 strokes heading into Sunday’s finish. Brennan had an impressive 7-under par day on Saturday and leads by two shots.
Blair, a former BYU star and multi-time player of the year winner in the UGA as an amateur, has carded 18 birdies and an eagle in three days at Black Desert. His bogeys have kept him from getting closer to the leader.
“I think if I make four bogeys or less, I feel its going to be a good week,” said Blair. “I have a lot more than that, unfortunately.”
Blair said some of his bogeys at Black Desert were weird things.
“I hit a couple of bad shots today on 16 and 17 but I hit a great 7-wood on No. 2 today and it goes through the fairway and I wasn’t even considering that it could go there and I make bogey there,” he said.
“Then I make a bogey on 6 after a great drive and great second shot and it plugs in the lip of the bunker. Then I’ve had four or five three putts in three days, so it was a little sloppy, but I have made a lot of birdies.”
Ogden’s Connor Howe, the only other local left in the tournament, fired a 3-over par third round to drop to 5-under for the tournament.