Coral Springs, FL (Sports Network) - Gene Jones shot 4-under-par 68 on
Thursday to grab sole possession of the lead after three rounds of the
Champions Tour Q-School.
Jones shared the overnight lead with Bobby Clampett, who stumbled to a 77 on
Thursday to fall into a tie for 16th place at 2-under 214.
Mark Mouland shot 66 to move into second place at 7-under, while Jeff Brehaut
(72) sits alone in third at minus-6.
Esteban Toledo, Jeff Hart, Jim Rutledge, P.H. Horgan III and Chie-Hsiang Lin
share fourth place at 5-under, while Peter Fowler and David Peoples reside in
ninth at minus-4.
The top-5 finishers in this tournament will receive full exemptions on the
Champions Tour next season, while the next seven finishers (Nos. 6-12) will
get conditional status for 2013. Additionally, the top-30 finishers will be
eligible to compete for spots in open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events.
Defending champion Jeff Freeman is back in the field after ending in 61st
place on the Champions Tour money list this season. He is currently 2-under
after carding rounds of 74, 69 and 71.
Damon Green, who caddies for Zach Johnson on the PGA Tour, shared the
first-round lead with Clampett but has since dropped to 2-under.
Jones, who made five Champions Tour starts this year, picked up three
strokes over his first 10 holes on Thursday before stumbling to consecutive
bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13.
The 55-year-old recovered with three birdies in his final four holes.
NOTES: The $200,000 purse for this event will be divided amongst the top-30
finishers, with first place garnering $30,000 ... Of the 78 golfers in the
field this week, 14 have won on the PGA Tour.
The Sports Network