RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Regan Lee shot a 68 yesterday to take a six-stroke lead over Philip Chun after three rounds at the Mid-Pacific Open.

Lee flies low, leads
Mid-Pac by 6 shots

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

Regan Lee rode the winds that whipped through Lanikai yesterday to soar into the lead of the Mid-Pacific Open.

Lee put himself in position to defend his tournament title by carding a 4-under-par 68 to take a six-stroke lead into today's final round.

Lee entered yesterday's play third in the pro flight after posting a 74 on Friday. But he caught and passed the leaders by staying steady in the face of gusty trades blowing through the course.

"I had a pretty rough time (on Friday), didn't really do anything too well and wasn't comfortable with anything," Lee said. "I stayed for a couple of hours and practiced and made some adjustments and got out most of the kinks. Today was a little shaky too, but I was able to save a lot of pars and birdie the par-5s."

Lee takes a three-round total of 210 into today's round. Philip Chun is second going into the final round after a round of 3-over 75 gave him a total of 216. Kevin Hayashi, who began the day tied with Chun for the lead, shot a 4-over 76 to fall into third at 217.

Larry Stubblefield, the 2001 champion; Daniel Nishimoto and Mark Takahama are tied for fourth at 219.

The leaders are scheduled to tee off at 8:48 a.m. today, and if the wind continues to blow, catching Lee will be that much harder for those chasing him.

"It's going to be hard whether its calm or windy, he's playing so well," Hayashi said. "You just have to try to make birdies no matter what."

The field started yesterday's round on the 10th hole with Hayashi and Chun one shot ahead of Lee.

Lee moved into the lead by going 2 under on the front nine with birdies on No. 12 and No. 16.

The wind picked up as the leaders made the turn, and with a strong breeze at their backs, both Lee and Hayashi sent their tee shots on No. 1 past the green, some 372 yards away. After chipping onto the green, Hayashi drained his birdie putt to tie Lee at 4 under.

But things began to unravel for Hayashi on the third hole. Trouble off the tee led to a double-bogey on No. 3 and he followed with bogeys on the next three holes to fall to 1 over.

"(The wind) magnifies the mistakes," Hayashi said. "You need to hit it well and you need to manage your game well.

"I didn't play well today, but there's still a chance. There's always a chance, that's why you play."

Chun shot 1 over on the first nine holes, but stayed in contention thanks to some clutch play around the greens.

"I didn't hit the ball too well and if it weren't for my putting I would have shot way up there today," Chun said. "But I made putts to save par and that kept me in the game."

Lee kept his shots low to minimize the impact of the wind and birdied the third, fifth and ninth holes to open up a commanding lead.

"Regan's perfect, he hits the ball low, he can hit the low punches and he's a great putter," Hayashi said. "It's a great combination."

Lee completed his round by draining a long putt for birdie on the ninth.

"The putts weren't falling in the beginning, so being able to finish like that gives you a little bit of a boost for (today)," he said.

Brandan Kop shot even-par 72 yesterday to take the lead in the championship flight. Mark Chun is second, two strokes behind Kop. Second-round leader Parker McLachlin shot a 5-over 77 yesterday to fall into third.

David Hamada holds a three-stroke lead over Tomi Yamada in the A Flight and Don Miyashita leads the B flight by four strokes over Vincent Yim.