Former Missouri Western golfer Brice Garnett is tied for 1st after three rounds at the eGolf Tour’s seventh annual Southern Open, contested this week at The Club at Irish Creek (Kannapolis, NC) and River Run Country Club (Davidson, NC).

Adam Mitchell (Atlanta, GA), Clint Jensen (Jupiter, FL) and Brice Garnett (Gallatin, MO) are tied for the lead through 54 holes of the 72-hole event, with matching three-round totals of 15-under 199.

Mitchell, the tournament’s 36-hole leader following rounds of 66-65, held the lead for the majority of Friday’s third round before bogeying the par-3 18th to fall back into a tie alongside Jensen and Garnett. A member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team, as well as the 2008 and 2009 U.S. Palmer Cup teams, Mitchell is looking to clinch his first eGolf Tour title after picking up career best T5 finishes earlier this year at the Samanah Classic in Morocco and the Willow Creek Open.

Jensen, the 2009 Southern Open champion, posted a third-round 64 playing with Garnett to move into a tie for the lead. Jensen trailed for much of the round, but closed with birdies at 13, 15 and 18 to earn a spot in Saturday’s final threesome. After winning in 2009 and 2010 (Cowans Ford Open), Jensen is still looking for his first win of 2011 after notching top-5 finishes in two of his last three starts.

Garnett, who won the tour’s River Hills Classic in June, is playing the tour for the first time since the win after twice competing on the Nationwide Tour and notching T15 and T30 finishes at the Rex Hospital Open and Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, respectively. In the third round, Garnett posted back-to-back eagles on 13 and 14 to reach 16-under for the week before succumbing to a bogey at the last.

Third-Round Results

T1   Clint Jensen         Jupiter, FL             69-66-64–199 -15
T1   Brice Garnett        Gallatin, MO            65-70-64–199 -15
T1   Adam Mitchell        Atlanta, GA             66-65-68–199 -15
4    Chesson Hadley       Raleigh, NC             67-66-69–202 -12
T5   Josh Gallman         Gaffney, SC             70-67-66–203 -11
T5   Jerry Richardson     Cary, NC                65-67-71–203 -11
7    Matthew Ryan         Santa Clarita, CA       66-67-71–204 -10
T8   Peter Malnati        Dandridge, TN           67-70-68–205 -9
T8   Carter Newman        Evans, GA               66-70-69–205 -9
T8   David Sanchez        Huntersville, NC        68-66-71–205 -9
T8   Ryan Nelson          Dickinson, TX           64-70-71–205 -9

Story Courtesy of Stewart Moore
Chief Operating Officer
VP, Public Relations
eGolf Professional Tour