Gabriel Hjertstedt takes narrow advantage

"Anytime you are in front, that's a good thing," Hjertstedt said. "If I look at the good things from today, I struck the ball really nice. ... I've been working very hard lately and it's great to see some results."

Entering the day tied with Scott Gump and Daisuke Maruyama atop the leaderboard, Hjertstedt began the round with a birdie and added five more to stand at 6-under through 15 holes. But he bogeyed on Nos. 16 and 17, putting him at 14-under 202 on the 7,315-yard Turning Stone Resort's Atunyote Course.

"I tried to hit a soft 6-iron on 16 and obviously hit it too hard," Hjertstedt said. "Then (I) hit a 9-iron on 17 and should have hit an 8-iron and kind of blocked it. So both were self-inflicted. It's like any round, you don't really know when the bogeys or birdies are going to come. Hopefully, the bogeys come when you are several shots under par."

Hjertstedt's first career PGA Tour win came at this event in 1997.

Gump opened the day with a bogey but birdied four of the final seven holes to finish at 3-under 69 in the round, leaving him one stroke behind Hjertstedt.

"I'm excited," Gump said. "It's going to be a lot of fun (on Sunday). ... I look forward to the excitement, to being in that position."

Maruyama signed for a 1-under after recording five birdies and three bogeys. He is even with four other golfers, three shots off the pace.

A 35-year-old tour rookie, Maruyama won last year on the Japanese Tour.

Mark Brooks and David Branshaw are tied with Gump for second. Brooks had an eagle on No. 4 and added five birdies against just one bogey to finish the day at 6-under 66.

"I just went out and tried to play solid," Brooks said. "I hit four good drives on the back nine and it paid off. ... When I was on about 11, 12, my goal was to get within (14-under 202), and I came a whisker from getting my putt to fall on 18 to get to that number."

A local favorite, Branshaw began the round with a bogey but recorded five birdies to sign for a 4-under 68.

The biggest difference in the course is that it is not the En-Joie Golf Club. The host of this event for 35 years, En-Joie was engulfed by heavy rains earlier this summer that left the course unplayable and forced tournament officials to move this year's event to Turning Stone.