Munoz rallies to top of wet JDC race

Well, if not the world, at least most of the field in the 50th Quad-Cities PGA Tour event.

“As soon as you see that you're not in those first couple names, then you try to make a couple birdies to make it happen again,” he said of moments early in his Saturday round.

That was when the leaderboard was as active as wet clothes in a dryer. During the course of a round played mostly in rainy conditions, 12 players at some point either held or shared the lead — Munoz among them.

But as he was opening with two birdies and two bogeys to get back to his starting spot at 11-under, others were passing him.

“We could see on the leaderboard that people were going low, and you didn't want to kind of fade into the leaderboard,” he said. “So it was really important to birdie 11, 13 and 16 coming in, so it was nice to be in the position I am right now.”

That position is leading the $6.2 million PGA Tour event.

By himself. 

Which is something not many thought would be the case early in the round.

At some point, first-round leader Luke List, Brandon Hagy, Scott Brown, Adam Long, Cameron Champ, Chez Reavie, Lucas Glover, 2016 JDC champ Ryan Moore, Adam Schenk, Chase Seiffert and Kevin Na were among the leaders trying to set themselves up for a shot at the bronze buck trophy and the $1,116,000 first-place check.

Seiffert and Na had short stays atop the field, but they and seemingly everyone else remain in contention heading into Sunday's final round that is set for a normal schedule with all players teeing off No. 1 in twosomes beginning at 6:40 a.m.

Hagy (67-64-67—198) will be in the final pairing with Munoz, starting just a shot back in solo second.

Brown (69-67-63), Long (70-65-64), Champ (66-68-65), Na (67-66-66) and Moore (65-66-68) are tied for third at 14-under.

A foursome of Maverick McNealy (71-64-65), Jhonattan Vegas (67-66-67), Reavie (64-67-69), and List (66-63-71) are three back at 13-under.

Jason Dufner (68-65-68), Lucas Glover (68-63-70), and Schenk (67-64-70) are at 12-under.

Six more are at 11-under and seven more are at 10-under.

“That's just how it is here,” said Champ of the bunched leaderboard. “That's how it can be and again tomorrow can change dramatically. There could be a bunch and you can get a couple guys to separate themselves tomorrow, depending upon the weather.”

While it was chaotic atop the leaderboard on Saturday, history shows us that 10 third-round leaders have gone to win in the 20 tournaments held at Deere Run.

Munoz, a 28-year-old Columbian, propelled himself to the top of the field with a solid back nine, with those birdies on 11, 13 and 16 giving him the lead as the rain ended.

“It was tough, definitely, especially the front nine,” said Munoz. “It seemed like we were scrambling with the umbrella, the towel, trying to keep the club face dry. It was just take your time and do the best you can and hope for the best, as well. It was key that we got a good round under those conditions.”

Now he hopes he can be the survivor and win his second Tour event this season. Sleeping on the lead isn't a worry, he said.

“I've done it in the past, so I think I'll do fine,” said Munoz, who won the Sanderson Farms event last fall. “I've got my routine pretty much down, so we'll see how it goes.”

Nine of the last 11 tournaments have been won with a score of 20-under or lower, so Sunday could be setting up for a shootout — depending on the weather, of course.

“I think you're going to have to make a bunch of birdies again, especially if we get some more rain overnight, soften it up,” said Brown, who knows he has his work cut out for him to get to that mark. “You're going to have to be in attack mode here. Typically it's at least 20-under par or a little more.”

Long agreed.

“Just going to have to keep making a lot of birdies,” he said of his Sunday plan. “These guys are really good, and they're going to be making a lot of birdies, too, so going to have to make a lot just to keep up with them.”

Which could easily make for more chaos on the leaderboard and make for another fun day.