Puerto Rico Open 2013: Day 3 Leaderboard, Analysis and More

It may be overshadowed by the WGC Cadillac Championship this weekend, but the 2013 Puerto Rico Open is providing some competitive golf action through the first three rounds. 

The Rio Grande tournament may be lacking in star power, but it more than makes up for it with some compelling storylines—specifically, the collapse of Day 2 leader Andres Romero.

After firing back-to-back 65s in the first two days of the tournament, the Argentine turned in a day to forget. He shot a 75 to fall from the top spot and is now tied for 15th at 11-under for the whole tournament.

Fabian Gomez and Scott Brown were more than willing to step up and take Romero's spot atop the leaderboard. Gomez turned in one of the better performances of the day, shooting a 65 to follow up his 64 from the second round. 

Brown failed to live up the expectations created by his 63 from Day 2, but his 65 was enough to tie him with Gomez for the tourney lead heading into the final day. 

Here's how the top contenders shake out with three rounds in the books.

Leaderboard (Courtesy of PGATour.com)

	Player		1	2	3	Today		Total	Strokes
T1	Fabian Gomez		69	64	65	-7		-18	198
T1	Scott Brown		68	63	67	-5		-18	198
T3	Blayne Barber		66	70	66	-6		-14	202
T3	Brian Stuard		67	69	66	-6		-14	202
T3	Jordan Spieth		69	66	67	-5		-14	202
T3	Steve LeBrun		67	65	70	-2		-14	202
7	Morgan Hoffmann		67	68	68	-4		-13	203
T8	Matt Jones		71	69	64	-8		-12	204
T8	Brendon de Jonge		70	69	65	-7		-12	204
T8	Ryo Ishikawa		70	68	66	-6		-12	204
T8	Boo Weekley		71	67	66	-6		-12	204
T8	Justin Bolli		67	69	68	-4		-12	204
T8	George McNeill		71	64	69	-3		-12	204
T8	Peter Uihlein		67	65	72	E		-12	204

Analysis

It’s hard not to peg Gomez as the odds-on favorite heading into the final day of the tournament. He struggled a bit on the first day of the tournament with a 69 but has now posted two scores in the mid-60s to tie for the lead.

Brown will be a challenger as well, but his Round 3 score was much closer to his first round than his spectacular second round.  He’ll need to recapture some of his Friday magic if he wants to keep up with Gomez.

Lurking in the shadows is Boo Weekley. He’s an experienced PGA vet and has improved his score in every round. He’s six shots off the lead, but if anyone’s going to have a Sunday surge that puts the pressure on the current leaders, it’s Weekley.

Four other players are just four strokes off the lead and neither Gomez nor Brown have much experience closing out tournaments as the top dog. We certainly have the setup for a wild finish in Round 4.