Morganton, NC – On a day when three players threatened golf’s magical number and a runaway leader came racing back to the pack, T.J. Howe of Osceola, PA found the top of the leaderboard at the eGolf Tour’s second annual Mimosa Hills Classic. A three-time tour winner, Howe erased a sluggish start to his week with rounds of 63-61 over the last two days to reach 16-under par – one shot clear of the field entering Saturday’s final round, and one round away from career win No. 4.

Howe’s week at Donald Ross’ famed Mimosa Hills Country Club course began in less-than-ideal fashion, with a bogey-bogey start on Wednesday giving way to an even-par 70. Tied for 59th after day one, the former Penn State golfer soared back into the mix with a second-round 63 on Thursday that put him at 7-under par through 36 holes – five shots back of overnight leader Christian Brand of Charleston, WV.

On a calm Friday morning, Howe began his march towards 59 with birdies on three of his first four holes to quickly jump to 10-under for the tournament.

“I horseshoed a short putt on No. 1 for birdie, then got one at Nos. 2, 3 and 4,” said Howe, who left himself tap-ins on Nos. 2 and 4. “I was hitting my wedges really close, and let the momentum from yesterday carry me through the front nine.”

Howe added a birdie at the par-5 seventh to reach 4-under on the day, where he turned after pars on Nos. 8 and 9 left him with a 31 on the front nine. With four players turning with nine-hole scores of 5-under 30 on Friday morning, Howe’s 31 fell somewhat under the radar. He wouldn’t remain there for long.

After pars on 10 and 11 kept him at 4-under par, Howe rode a lucky break through the trees on the par-4 12th to a fifth birdie when he converted a 20-foot birdie bomb.

That putt sparked a torrid stretch of golf for the Charlotte, NC resident, who converted a 12-foot birdie putt on 13, a 10-foot birdie putt on 14 and another 20-footer on 15 to ascend to 8-under par with just three holes to play.

“I didn’t really think about it after the birdie on 15,” said Howe of the possible 59 that sat on the horizon. “It’s tough to birdie three in a row, let alone after you’ve birdied four in a row. Maybe if I get one at 16, I’ll think about it.”

Cue a stellar approach to the par-4 16th that wound up a foot from the hole. When Howe tapped it in to move to 9-under par on the day, it was officially game-on with two to go at Mimosa Hills.

“I started to think about 59 after the birdie on 16, it was definitely in the back of my mind,” he said.

Justin Smith

At the par-3 17th, a jacked-up Howe hit his tee shot to the back of the green on the short one-shotter, setting up a 35-foot birdie try. When he missed, he was left with the par-4 18th as his last chance at golf stardom.

A stellar drive on the downhill closing hole set up a wedge-shot approach from 125 yards. Needing to hole-out for an 11-under-par day, Howe jokingly referenced his intentions with his playing partners.

“As soon as I hit it down the middle, I told the guys I was going to go at it. They knew where I stood,” said Howe. “But I think I bailed out a little bit.”

Howe’s second shot wound up 10 feet left of the back-right hole location. A daunting pin placement that seems to hug the iconic, white clubhouse which sits roughly 15 feet to the right of the fringe.

“The wind was blowing right, and if you miss it right of the green you’re probably next to the clubhouse out-of-bounds,” said Howe. “I hit it right where I should have hit it, to be honest. You’re not going to say you’re holing out from 125 and actually do it. I gave myself the look I wanted, so there’s no complaints.”

Howe’s birdie try fell below the hole, leaving him with a career-best 61 and a one-shot lead entering Saturday’s final round.

His spot atop the leaderboard is a rather comfortable one, as the former Nittany Lion standout converted at least a share of three overnight leads into three wins last year at the Forest Oaks Classic, the Mid Pines Classic and the Cabarrus Classic.

“I seem to concentrate and focus a lot more when I’m around the lead. Obviously to this point I’ve got a pretty good thought process, and that’s all I’m going to focus on tomorrow,” said Howe after his round. “You can’t control what anyone else is going to shoot – someone might do what I did today and you can’t catch them.”

Howe’s 2014 campaign has been solid, but certainly pales in comparison to the breakthrough season of a year ago. Eight of nine cuts made entering Mimosa Hills and six top-25s would make most players happy, but left him wondering where the low scores went.

“It’s interesting, I just haven’t been using the scoring clubs that well this year. I’ve been right around par nearly every round, and you just can’t do that,” said Howe, who broke 70 just four times in his first 29 rounds this year. “I may have been averaging three birdies per round up to this week. They’ve been hard to come by.”

A return to his 2013 putter, which went in the bag prior to Thursday’s 63, has allowed Howe to play more aggressively with his wedges, knowing that he can convert from 10- to 15-feet, and doesn’t necessarily have to try and get his approach shots inside 5 feet to have a chance.

“The one thing I didn’t do the first round was hit wedges close. I think playing the course more than once, you learn to give yourself better yardages on some of these par-4s, where I can be more aggressive with my swing,” he said.

Howe wasn’t the only player on Friday to flirt with golf’s magical number, as Justin Smith of Queensland, Australia and Richard Lamb of South Bend, IN did the same, winding up with rounds of 61 and 63, respectively.

At 15-under 195, Smith will enter the final round just one shot back of Howe, in solo-second place.

Smith, 32, opened his week with rounds of 66-68—134 to make the cut by two shots. In Friday’s first pairing off of No. 1, he shined early and often birdieing Nos. 3, 4 and 9, and adding an eagle on the par-5 seventh, to turn in 5-under 30.

With the back nine on the horizon, Smith birdied 10, 13 and 14 to move to 8-under par for the day, nearly holing his tee shot on the par-3 13th before the ball came to rest just inches from the hole. A birdie on 16 took him to 9-under par on the day, and in need of birdies on his final two holes in order to break 60.

After a par on the 17th, Smith’s tee shot on 18 found the fairway, setting up a dramatic short-iron approach that landed past the hole and spun back past the cup for a near-miss eagle that wound up being a 15-foot birdie try. The 11-year professional missed the putt, settling for a career-best 61 and a 15-under-par total.

Smith’s 61 came somewhat out of the blue in just his fourth career start in an eGolf-sanctioned event. The Queensland native missed the cut in his lone start of 2013, missed the cut in an eGolf West event in January, then broke through with a T34 at Willow Creek last month.

Christian Brand

Brand, who held a share of the 18-hole lead and a three-shot lead at 12-under par entering Friday’s third round, looked to be the tournament victor throughout much of the 59 hoopla surrounding the day.

The current Web.com Tour member birdied five of his first 10 holes to reach 17-under par at Mimosa Hills, eventually getting to 18-under with a birdie on the par-5 14th.

Three shots clear of the field at the time, Brand came unraveled down the stretch, bogeying his final four holes amidst a 40-minute weather delay on his way to a third-round 68 and a 14-under-par total. The surprising finish left the former Marshall University standout in solo-third place, two shots back of Howe.

eGolf Tour rookie Daniel Claytor of Hartsville, SC is in solo-fourth place at 13-under 197. The former Barton College star opened day three with a birdie-eagle start en route to a 5-under 30 on his outward nine. A bogey on 11 slowed his Friday momentum, but the 23-year-old rallied late with birdies on 14 and 15 to round out a 6-under 64 on the day.

Claytor, who was one of the six players to share the day-one lead at Mimosa Hills, has played well of late on tour, posting back-to-back top-15 finishes in his last two starts after missing two of his first three cuts this year. The Rocky Mount, NC native finished T4 at last week’s Forest Oaks Classic after posting a four-round total of 16-under 272.

Final-round play at Mimosa Hills will begin at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.