Kokrak leads by 1 in Nationwide event

Staff report

CHARLESTON, S.C.

Warren’s Jason Kokrak shot a 3-over-75 to take the lead after three rounds of the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island.

Kokrak is 7-under through three rounds and leads the field by one stroke after a day when strong winds got the best of most of the players in the 60-man field.

Scott Brown and Ken Duke are one behind while Matt Every, Camilo Benedetti and Daniel Chopra are two behind.

“It was a tough round with that wind,” Kokrak said to pga.com. “I think the only other time I had a tougher day was when I played over in Ireland, when I was 14. If it was constant here, it wouldn’t have been that difficult, but it just kept switching directions.

“It’s really playing tough and you’ve got to control your ball,” Kokrak said. “I had a bit of a rough stretch where I didn’t control it well. Got it up in the wind and it did whatever it wanted to,” he said after turning in a 3-over 75.

“Going in with the lead in the final round is what you want,” he said. “But we’ll see what the wind gives and the weather gives us tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

A win would be Kokrak’s third of the season and could mean the money title. With the money title comes fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour in 2012 and a spot in The Players.

But the Ralston Creek Course is not going to make that an easy task, with winds still forecast to be around 15 mph.

“Par is a great score on every hole. If I got 18 pars I would have said ‘yes,’ and walked home with a smile on my face,” he said. “The guys who shot under par golfed their golf ball really well. It’s impressive to shoot four or five under today.”