Golfers go low at KC Golf Classic

Kyle Jones and Sepp Straka pulled themselves clear of the field on Saturday in the third round of the KC Golf Classic.

The next step as both golfers vie for their first career Web.com Tour victory: finding a way clear of each other.

Saturday was another day for red figures and low scores at Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate. Jones and Straka, paired in the final grouping, were up to the challenge.

Jones fired an 8-under 63, to move to 21-under and take a 1-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. Straka shot 64, and sits alone in second place at 20-under.

Straka was the player with a 1-shot lead heading to No. 18, but a wayward tee shot led to a rare bogey. Jones, meanwhile, stuffed his approach on No. 18 to 3 feet, setting the stage for what figures to be a birdie-filled finale.

The duo sits at least five shots ahead of Bo Hoag and KU grad Chris Thompson, who finished the day at 15-under. While there is a bit of breathing room, Jones and Straka aren’t ready to disregard the rest of the field.

“Right now the only thing I’m thinking is I need to go out and play a good round (Sunday),” Jones said. “People can come out here and shoot really low. I still need to go out and put up a good number. This course, and it’s the Web.com, guys are going to go low. It’s kind of implanted into your brain, and you just deal with it. You’ve got to go out and do the same thing if you want to compete.”

Straka’s bogey on No. 18 was the only one he carded on the round. He spent the majority of his round in the shadow of the pin, despite the breezy conditions.

“I hit the ball real close to the hole, and had a lot of short putts for birdie. That’s key, especially when it’s windy like this. It’s hard to make putts out here,” Straka said. “It was real windy early, and I kept hitting it close. I kept trying to roll with the flow.”

Thompson’s round was stuck in neutral for 15 holes, but he generated some momentum for Sunday after finishing with three consecutive birdies. The throng of fans who followed Thompson to the final hole let out a cheer when he sank his birdie putt for a round of 67.

“I thought 4-under would at least hold serve, but obviously I’m going to be a little bit further behind than I wanted,” Thompson said. “But a lot of things can happen. It’s 18 holes, and if you get it going the wrong way out here, it can snowball too. It’s going to take a great score (Sunday), but I feel like I’ve got it in me. I’ve just got to go out and put it all together.”

Jones and Straka have put together three incredible rounds, but it often takes four such rounds to win on the Web.com Tour.

“I’ll come out and pretend like it’s any other round, because it is,” Jones said. “I know there’s a lot on the line, but I still have to come out and play.”

The same goes for Straka.

“At the end of the day, all I have to do is go play golf and try to win a golf tournament,” Straka said. “It’s what we do, it’s why we play the game, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”