Nico Echavarria moves into lead

Puerto Rico Open R3

Colombia’s Nico Echavarria played his first seven holes in 6-under par to shoot 65 and take a 2-stroke lead at 14-under in the Puerto Rico Open as he works toward his first career top-10 finish on Tour in 11th start.

“It was a dream start. I found something on the range yesterday and even if I felt nervous out there today on some holes, I just kept putting my game plan and my feeling of what I found on the range and it worked really good. Happy with how I played, happy with the shots I hit when I was under pressure. Hopefully we can do it tomorrow.

“The last couple weeks I’ve been struggling in tempo and I’ve been having too many things in my head of technical-wise. It was not helping. The first two days I honestly felt like I was guiding it. I was making a lot of putts that made me keep the round going. Today just felt the swing, trying to feel it longer on every shot, and it felt comfortable yesterday and I’ve done it before while I was struggling with tempo and hips turning too fast that we played with that all day today and probably going to play with that tomorrow.”

American rookie Carson Young, who held the lead by three and four shots, respectively, after rounds one and two, posted a third-round 71 to drop from the top spot and trail by two strokes.

“I played solid today, I just didn’t hit anything really close, left myself 20, 30 feet a lot for birdie and hit a bunch of good putts, just nothing dropped for me. I still feel good about my game. I drove it better today than I did yesterday, which is a positive. Today, I mean, it was just a grind today just because I wasn’t hitting really anything close, but I feel good about my game and I’m ready to see what I can do tomorrow,” said Carson.

Sam Stevens, also an American rookie, birdied his final four holes for a 65 and a share of third place at 13-under alongside compatriot Nate Lashley who birdied five of his first seven holes for a 65.

Rafael Campos, the lone Puerto Rico native to make the cut, sits T54 at 2-under 214.

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1R2R3Total
1Nico Echavarria-17676765199
2Carson Young-15636771201
T3Sam Stevens-13687065203
T3Nate Lashley-13716567203
T5Akshay Bhatia-12667167204
T5Harry Hall-12726468204
7Wesley Bryan-11696967205
T8Derek Ernst-10706868206
T8Harry Higgs-10716471206
T10Scott Piercy-9677367207
T10Brice Garnett-9697068207
T10Derek Lamely-9706869207
T10Vincent Norrman-9696969207
T10Matti Schmid-9687069207
T10Chris Stroud-9696969207
T10Augusto Núñez-9677070207
T10Geoff Ogilvy-9696870207
T10Michael Kim-9706671207
T19Kevin Roy-8717067208
T19Anders Albertson-8706969208
T19S.Y. Noh-8706969208
T19Hank Lebioda-8706672208
T19Ryan Gerard-8696772208
T19Paul Haley II-8686674208
T25Jim Herman-7717068209
T25Grayson Murray-7707168209
T25Henrik Norlander-7707168209
T25John VanDerLaan-7697169209
T25Ricky Barnes-7706970209
T25Scott Harrington-7706871209
T25Noah Goodwin-7706772209
T25Tano Goya-7686972209
T33Scott Brown-6727068210
T33Kevin Chappell-6717168210
T33Josh Teater-6707169210
T33Cody Gribble-6697071210
T33Max McGreevy-6667173210
T33Bill Haas-6676974210
T39William McGirt-5697270211
T39Andrew Novak-5687271211
T39Dylan Wu-5706972211
T39Erik van Rooyen-5716872211
T39Camilo Villegas-5687172211
T44Ted Potter, Jr.-4717269212
T44Jonathan Byrd-4727169212
T44Trevor Werbylo-4717071212
T44Richy Werenski-4717071212
T44Andrew Landry-4716972212
T44D.J. Trahan-4707072212
T50Brent Grant-3697470213
T50Kevin Stadler-3707172213
T50Ryan Blaum-3687372213
T50Jiri Zuska(a)-3707073213
T54Brandon Matthews-2717271214
T54Greg Chalmers-2697471214
T54Kyle Stanley-2717172214
T54Brandon Harkins-2697174214
T54Rafael Campos-2707074214
T59George McNeill-1726875215
T59Jason Dufner-1687176215
T61Sean O'HairPar756873216
T61Trevor ConePar717174216
T61Nick WatneyPar727173216
T61MJ DaffuePar727074216
T61Martin TrainerPar707274216
T66Ben Crane+1727174217
T66Richard S. Johnson+1717274217
T66Ryan Armour+1737074217
T66Sung Kang+1737074217
T66Jonas Blixt+1726976217
CUTDavid HearnPar7470-144
CUTMichael GligicPar7173-144
CUTJulián EtulainPar7470-144
CUTChris NidoPar7173-144
CUTFabián GómezPar7470-144
CUTBrian StuardPar7371-144
CUTRoberto DíazPar7371-144
CUTCarl YuanPar7173-144
CUTStephen Stallings Jr.Par7668-144
CUTJ.J. Henry+17372-145
CUTSangmoon Bae+17075-145
CUTCarl Pettersson+17372-145
CUTJohn Rollins+17372-145
CUTBen Carr(a)+17174-145
CUTAustin Eckroat+17273-145
CUTErik Barnes+27175-146
CUTParker McLachlin+27175-146
CUTAustin Cook+27274-146
CUTJesse Mueller+27373-146
CUTJason Bohn+37572-147
CUTK.J. Choi+37572-147
CUTZecheng Dou+37374-147
CUTTommy Gainey+47573-148
CUTBo Van Pelt+47870-148
CUTTed Purdy+47573-148
CUTOmar Uresti+47474-148
CUTMatt Every+47969-148
CUTArjun Atwal+47771-148
CUTRobert Garrigus+57772-149
CUTD.A. Points+57574-149
CUTRyuji Imada+57475-149
CUTTim Cantwell+57574-149
CUTChad Campbell+67674-150
CUTRobi Calvesbert(a)+67476-150
CUTCameron Percy+67773-150
CUTEdward Figueroa+77576-151
CUTHiram Silfa+77675-151
CUTBrian Davis+77576-151
CUTBoo Weekley+87973-152
CUTTom Adrounie+87478-152
CUTDaniel Chopra+87478-152
CUTCarlos Franco+87379-152
CUTGuy Boros+97974-153
CUTFrank Lickliter II+97281-153
CUTEric Axley+107777-154
CUTRobert Gamez+127779-156
CUTJonathan Kaye+127977-156
CUTDiego Saavedra-Davila(a)+157782-159
W/DCameron Beckman-79--79
W/DJeff Overton-76--76
Updated: March 5, 2023
Puerto Rico Open 2023
Date: 2nd March - 5th March, 2023
Location: Grand Reserve Golf Club Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Purse: $3,800,000