LEWISTON — With top-ranked Justin Thomas making an early run and the majority of the field at the 54th annual Porter Cup   struggling to break par, leader Richy Werenski managed to come in at 3-under Friday at Niagara Falls Country Club to maintain   his 4-stroke lead heading into today’s final round.

Thomas birdied his first four holes, including a chip in from the left bunker on four, to pull even with Werenski at 12-under.   Werenski took advantage of Thomas’ bogey on six with a birdie of his own, taking a two-stroke lead. Birdies on 11 and 13 would   push his lead back to four.

A big part of Werenski’s success has been his avoidance of bogeys. After saving par on 18 by dropping a chip from the bunker   2 feet from the pin, he kept his bogey-less tournament intact.

Thomas had an up-and-down day. The United States’ top-ranked collegiate golfer dropped six birdies, but back-to-back bogeys   on six and seven, and another on 14, kept him from gaining ground on Werenski. He had trouble hitting fairways, particularly   on the back nine, but came up with a few big shots to save par.

“I got off to a hot start today, but somewhere in there I turned into a completely different golfer,” Thomas said. “I think   I played solid overall. Still, if Richy keeps playing the way he did today, it’s going to be really tough to catch him.”

The third member of the top group, Patrick Rodgers, had a similar day. He entered the round tied for second at 8-under, but   shot a 69 and dropped into a tie for fifth.

Werenski sits alone atop the leader board at 15-under. Thomas holds second place at 11-under, while Scott Harvey and Denny   McCarthy are tied for third at 10-under. Rodgers, Tyler McCumber and Cameron Smith sit tied for fifth at 9-under, and Garrett   Rank and Andrew Yun are tied for eighth at 7-under.

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Of the 78-player field at this year’s tournament, only 25 managed to come in under par. Players cited the choppy, swirling   wind and difficult hole placements as reasons for the increased scores.

A few players did manage to make big jumps, however. Harvey and Smith led the way, shooting a 64 and 63, respectively. Harvey   moved from 4- to 10-under and jumped from 12th to a tie for third place. Smith moved to 9-under and climbed from 22nd to a   tie for fifth.

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North Tonawanda’s James Blackwell’s struggles continued as the St. Joe’s graduate adjusts to a revamped putting approach he   implemented after placing second during June’s International Junior Masters. Blackwell was noticeably disappointed with his   12-over 82 third round but said things would be a lot different if he was making putts.

“If I had putted halfway decent I would be up on top of the leaderboard, or close to it,” Blackwell said.

It was a rough day for Western New York’s home-grown talent as a whole, as each of the six local players finished over par   in the third round. Twenty-six-year-old Chris Covelli of Buffalo led the group with a 2-over 72 followed by Trevor Sluman   (Rochester) and Matt Stasiak (Clarence), who each finished at 3-over. Michael Boss (Lewiston) finished with a 9-over 79 and   Brian Jurkiewicz (Hamburg) shot a 10-over 80. Stasiak sits in the best position heading into today’s final round tied for   50th at 4-over par.

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Iowa native Mike McCoy stands out like a sore thumb from the rest of the field. The 49-year-old is far and away the oldest   golfer at this year’s Porter Cup. McCoy shot a 2-over 72 third round and is tied for 41st at 2-over on the tournament in his   13th trip to NFCC. McCoy said this year ranks among his favorites.

“The course is in great condition and the weather has been very nice,” McCoy said. “I really enjoy coming back here every   year. … You get to see who the superstars of tomorrow are going to be and you get to know them a little — and sometimes their   parents.”