Round three was a back-and-forth battle at the 118th Indiana Amateur Championship at Otter Creek GC in Columbus. Cole Bradley of West Lafayette and Sean Rowen of Greenwood fought their way to the top of the leaderboard time and time again, with Bradley inching past Rowen on the 18th hole to grab a one shot lead heading into the final round tomorrow.
In the morning, things were reversed, as Rowen began the day with a one shot lead of his own at 7-under-par. He maintained this lead until Bradley made back-to-back birdies on holes 3 and 4. From that point forward, it was a constant battle for the top of the leaderboard.
The biggest turning point of today’s round came on hole 14 when Rowen bladed his third shot out of the bunker and made bogey, while Bradley converted his birdie putt. This two shot swing gave Bradley his first solo lead of the day.
“I played pretty solid the first 13 holes of the day,” said Rowen. “The shot on 14 really got away from me, but I hung in there the rest of the round and kept myself in it.”
Rowen is a past Indiana Amateur Champion, with a previous win coming in 2015 at Otter Creek. He looks for his second win at this golf course with just a one shot deficit heading into tomorrow’s final round.
Bradley, a sophomore at Purdue University looks for his first Indiana Amateur title. With rain predicted for tomorrow’s round, Bradley prepares to stay mentally tough.
“Everybody has to play in it,” said Bradley. “I’m going to take the round shot by shot and don’t plan on letting the weather affect me.”
Heading to the final round, Bradley leads the field at 10-under-par, after firing 68 today. Rowen trails by one shot at 9-under-par and Baylor Payne of Martinsville is third at 5-under-par.