Puerto Rico Open 2012: George McNeill Takes Over Lead After 3 Rounds

The 2012 Puerto Rico Open is hitting Round 4 and after three rounds of play American George McNeill is atop the leaderboard with a score of 13 under overall after shooting a 67 in Round 3. McNeill opened up the Puerto Rico Open with a nice 66 round, but fell back in Round 3 shooting a 70 but put himself back on top with another great day on Round 3.

Trailing McNeill is Henrik Stenson with a 12 under and Ryo Ishikawa, Graham DeLaet, and Kevin Stadler all tied for third place with an 11 under. Stenson is climbing up the leaderboard after shooting a round of 69 in Round 2 and storming forward with a round of 65 in Round 3. With another solid round from Stenson on Sunday can vault him atop the leaderboard.

George McNeill holds a one-shot advantage heading into the final round of the 2012 Puerto Rico Open and will tee-off in the final group on Sunday. McNeill carded a 5-under 67 on Sunday, jumping to the top of the leaderboard at 13-under for the tournament. But his lead is far from comfortable and quite a few players are well within striking distance.

Just behind McNeill, Henrik Stenson and Kevin Stadler lurk. The two are in a tie for second, one shot off the pace at 12-under for the tournament. Matt Jones is alone in fourth at 11-under, two shots back of McNeill.

Though many of golf’s higher-profile names are competing in the WGC-Cadillac Open this week, there’s still plenty of action at the Puerto Rico Open, led by an impressive performance by George McNeill, who’s attempting a nearly wire-to-wire win. McNeill is alone in the lead after three rounds with a score of -13, but is being pursued closely by a fair contingent of dangerous golfers.

Swede Henrik Stenson is right on McNeill’s heels with a -12 after shooting seven-under in the third round. Matt Jones, who was in the lead after 36 holes, shot an even 72 to fall two shots back of the lead. Kevin Stadler is tied with Stenson and Scott Brown. Daniel Summerhays and Japanese pheom Ryo Ishikawa are three shots back at -10.

Matt Jones surged to the top of the leaderboard at the Puerto Rico Open on Friday thanks to his second straight solid round of the tournament. Jones followed up his first round 66 with a 5-under 67 in the second round, moving to 11-under for the tournament. With 36 holes to go, he’s got a three-shot lead over the field and sits in prime position to bring home the win.

Jones will be back at it on Saturday, paired with George McNeill in the day’s final group. Coverage of the third round begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on the Golf Channel. The coverage window is set to run for three hours, ending at 9:30 p.m.

Matt Jones shot a 5-under in the second round to jump out to a score of 11-under through the first two days of play. He currently holds a three-stroke lead over the second-place George McNeill. McNeill entered the day’s play tied with Jones atop the leaderboard, but shot just 2-under for the day -- including three bogeys -- and now stands at 8-under.

Ryo Ishikawa shot 5-under and is now tied for third place with Todd Hamilton at 7-under. Six different players are tied at 6-under, and an additional five players stand at 5-under through the first two days, so the tournament is still very much up for grabs.

Matt Jones and George McNeill lead the 2012 Puerto Rico Open by a stroke after finishing the opening round at 6-under. The two each fired 66s on Thursday, taking the lead in the tournament that’s more of an afterthought on the same weekend as the WGC event at Doral. The two are chased by Ben Curtis, whose 5-under first round put him alone in third place.

Coverage of the second round begins at the same time as the first: 6:30 p.m. Eastern on the Golf Channel. The broadcast runs until 8:30 p.m. and will highlight the day’s action.

The first round of the Puerto Rico Open is in the books, and though the heavy hitters on tour are on the links at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, there’s still plenty of fun to be had at Donald Trump’s Puerto Rico golf course.

The two co-leaders after the first 18 are Matt Jones and George McNeill, each of whom shot a 66 for rounds of -6. Behind them is a veritable logjam, as no one really did much to separate themselves from the competition. Ben Curtis is the only player one stroke back (-5), but there are four players — Jeff Overton, Kevin Kisner, Todd Hamilton and Daniel Summerhays — tied at four-under. After them, there are 13 players at -3, including former Master’s champion Angel Cabrera.

In the other tournament of the weekend, golfers that didn’t meet the entrance requirements for the World Golf Championships event at Doral will take the course in the 2012 Puerto Rico Open. The tournament takes place at the Trump International Golf Course in, you guessed it, Puerto Rico, beginning on Thursday. Michael Bradley will be defending his crown while seeking his third Puerto Rico Open title in four years.

Coverage of the tournament begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on the Golf Channel, following the WGC broadcast. The coverage window runs until 8:30 p.m.

The 2012 Puerto Rico Open will tee off Thursday at the Trump International Golf Club in Puerto Rico. Though overshadowed by the WGC-Cadillac Championship running concurrently, this year’s Open still features plenty of talent. This year, Michael Bradley returns to defend his 2011 title and will shoot for his third win in Puerto Rico for his career.

Challenging him for the winning share of a $3.5 million purse will be the likes of Angel Cabrera, Rocco Mediate, David Duval and 2010 winner Derek Lamely. The tournament has been running since 2008, when Greg Kraft took home the first title on the Tom Kite-designed course.