Aldrich Potgieter leads Mexico Open by 1 entering final round

VALLARTA – South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter is feeling cautiously hopeful, after he shot a four-under 67 to maintain the lead through the third round of the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in Vallarta on Feb 22.

He is at 20 under for the tournament, holding a one-stroke edge on fast-charging Brian Campbell (64).

Germany’s Stephan Jaeger (66) is three strokes back at 17 under, Alex Smalley (64) sits at 15 under and Ben Griffin (67) and England’s Aaron Rai (68) share fifth place at 14 under.

Potgieter, 20, is seeking his first PGA Tour victory in his 10th appearance on the circuit.

“Brian was having a great round so I tried to just stay a little bit ahead of him,” he said.

“It got a little tough throughout the day with the wind a little bit, some pin placements were a little bit more tough so didn’t make as many putts today.”

A day earlier, his 61 made him the fourth-youngest player with a round of 61 or better on the tour. His lead shrunk from four shots at the beginning of the third round.

“We’ll save it for (Sunday),” Potgieter added, keeping a positive outlook.

Campbell played the last 10 holes in five under, including a birdie on the last hole, to make a late push. He had birdies on the three par-fives on the backside.

That cut into Potgieter’s lead, which also was reduced with his bogey on No. 17. That mishap was set up when his tee shot was well off the fairway, though he said the goal was to limit the damage to a bogey in that situation.

Campbell, who had a bogey-free trip around the course in the third round, was focused on playing a steady round.

“Just limiting the mistakes and staying within reach of