“I followed a lot of good shots with bad shots and bad shots with good shots,” Zettler said. “It was just a real up-and-down round.”
But it was a round that has him just 18 holes away from winning his third city championship.
“You always have to be happy if you’re in the lead,” said Zettler, who leads Ed McCoy (70-70—140) and Marvin Flynn (72-68—140) heading into today’s final round.
Zettler had four birdies and four bogeys in Friday’s opening round, and he added four more of each Saturday.
“On No. 8 I holed out from 100 yards for birdie, so that was a big one,” he said. “And I birdied 17, so that was good to kind of finish on a high note.”
Flynn’s 68 was the low score of the day and the only under-par round thus far in the tournament. And it put him in good position to record his first Top 10 finish in the city since 2004 when he finished third after losing a playoff to Ronnie Hibbard.
McCoy is looking for his second consecutive top-five finish after placing third last year.
“I was really happy with my finish last year,” McCoy said. “I’m just happy to be out there with these guys. There’s some real competitive golfers out there and it’s just fun to be able to compete with them.
“I’m not even going to think about winning,” he added. “You just have to go out there and play Potter’s and try not to make too many mistakes.”
Matt Leugers, who shared the first-round lead with Zettler, fell four strokes off the pace with a 73, while previous champions Dan Smith (1997, 2005) and Ron Nichting (1990) are five strokes back.
“Maybe if I shoot 10 under (today),” Leugers said when asked if he thought he still has a chance. “I just didn’t hit the ball good. All I can do (today) is go out and try to make as many birdies as possible with no bogeys.”
Action resumes at 10:30 Sunday morning, with the leaders scheduled to tee off at 11:40.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com
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