Nate Lashley separated himself from the field in the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Here’s how it happened Saturday at Detroit Golf Club:

Leaderboard: Nate Lashley (-23), J.T. Poston (-17), Cameron Tringale (-16), Patrick Reed (-15), Doc Redman (-14), Wes Roach (-14), Rory Sabbatini (-14), Peter Malnati (-14)

What it means: Despite owning just one career top-10 finish in 32 PGA Tour starts, Lashley showed the poise of a proven Tour pro on Moving Day. The former real-estate agent entered the third round leading by a shot but quickly opened the gap. He birdied his first hole and added six more in his next 13 holes. He hit the flagstick on the par-5 17^th hole before adding another birdie. He birdied the par-4 18th, too, didn’t make a bogey and posted the day’s low score, a 9-under 63, to build a six-shot lead over second-place Poston, who shot 66. Just last week, Chez Reavie led by six shots after 54 hole and went on to win at the Travelers.

Round of the day: Low scores continued Saturday as Lashley led the way with 64 and four other players, including Reed, carded 65. Reed, who made nine birdies to climb to 15 under, hasn’t won since the 2018 Masters as he’s dropped to 25^th in the world. Brandt Snedeker went bogey-free for his 65 to move to 12 under.

Best of the rest: Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur champion and Monday qualifier, fired 67 to improve to 14 under. Redman is making just his second PGA Tour start of the season. He’s played mostly on the Mackenzie Tour this year but also tied for 18^th at the Wells Fargo in May. Hideki Matsuyama’s third-round 68 moved Matsuyama into the top 10 at 13 under.

Biggest disappointment: Cameron Champ started the third round just one shot off the lead but managed just a 3-over 75 playing in the final group. Champ made four bogeys and a double, though he did birdie his final hole.

Main storyline entering Sunday: Lashley is ranked No. 353 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He got into the field as an alternate after failing to Monday-qualify. The 36-year-old Arizona product has faced tons of adversity, none tougher than the death of his parents and girlfriend, who died in a plane crash in 2004 after watching Lashley, then a junior for the Wildcats, compete in an NCAA regional. He didn’t make it to the PGA Tour until last season. Yet Lashley can break through for his first Tour victory on Sunday and secure his card for the next two seasons.

Shot of the day: When you’re on, you’re on. Lashley nearly holed his third shot for eagle at the par-5 seventh.

DETROIT – The putts finally started dropping for Patrick Reed at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Reed breezed past an ultra-low cut line with a pair of 68s to start the week at Detroit Golf Club, but that still left the former Masters champ well off the pace. While the birdies were falling, he nearly had to get within arm’s reach of the hole to convert opportunities on the greens, ranking near the bottom of the field in strokes gained: putting.

Reed’s putting woes were so bad that he made an early-week detour to a local Club Champion store to double check that the specs on his putter were still correct.

The results finally changed Saturday for Reed, who tallied nine birdies en route to a 7-under 65 that moved him into fourth place at 15 under heading into the final round.

“It was about time, honestly. I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball really well,” Reed said. “Putts were burning edges left and right. I’d be reading break that wasn’t there. Today, to see the ball go in on the first hole just kind of settled me down. I was able to get the confidence going on to really feel like I was seeing the lines well.”

Reed made an 8-footer for birdie on the opening hole, then added four more birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine. It put him in position for his first top-10 finish since the WGC-HSBC Champions in October, although he still faces an eight-shot deficit to overnight leader Nate Lashley.

But despite the steep challenge he’ll savor the opportunity as he looks to build some momentum in the midst of a run of four straight starts that will conclude next week at the 3M Open.

“When you’re just not getting those numbers, it’s frustrating. You’re at home, you’re like, ‘I feel like I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing, what’s going on?’” Reed said. “So you need rounds like this to validate and to show yourself that you are on the right path, that you’re doing the right things, and it actually is closer than some of the scores show.”

It has been a nice few weeks for Baylor players.

Rising junior Ryan Grider captured the Texas State Amateur two weeks ago, and last week it was graduate Garrett May winning the Northeast Amateur.

“All my good buddies have been playing well and I’ve been there to encourage them,” Bears rising senior Cooper Dossey said. “But it’s been hard being the cheerleader.”

So, what did Dossey do? The Austin, Texas, native traded in his pom-poms for a trophy by prevailing in the championship match of the North and South Amateur on Saturday at Pinehurst No. 2.

Dossey defeated Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton, 5 and 4, making two birdies and an eagle (at No. 8) to take a 4-up lead on the front nine. He parred each of five holes played on the back to secure the victory.

“I was hitting it close all day, so it wasn’t very stressful,” said Dossey, who made four birdies in his semifinal victory over Blake Taylor on Saturday morning before going bogey-free in the afternoon.

“I’ve had ball-striking days like this before but never on a course this hard. I never thought I was out of a hole today.”

Dossey likened his play in the final to the 62 he shot in a U.S. Junior qualifier in 2015. Coincidentally, Dossey’s younger brother, Luke, an incoming Baylor freshman, caddied that day. Luke Dossey also caddied for Cooper on Saturday after failing to make the cut. (Cooper actually looped for Luke in the North and South qualifier on Pinehurst No. 8 earlier this week.)

Dossey’s youngest brother, Sam, and parents, Paul and Trudi, all stayed in a house on the course this week, sharing the place with Grider and his family.

“I honestly felt like home all week,” said Dossey, who will head back to Texas to play in next week’s Trans-Miss Amateur.

Dossey’s victory Saturday was as much improbable as it was impressive. Less than five months ago, Dossey couldn’t even play golf. He injured his left wrist during the postseason of his freshman year and last November had surgery to repair the ECU tendon and sheath in the wrist, as well as torn cartilage in his left hand.

He didn’t pick up a club for three months.

“If you would’ve told me in November that I would win this tournament, I would’ve told you there was no way,” Dossey said. “I was in a bad place, but it’s been humbling, and in a way I kind of needed it. I was burnt out. It’s crazy what God does.

“… I’ve never felt more confident in my game. I’ve gotten back to believing in myself.”

Dossey recently started working with instructor Chuck Cook, who has turned Dossey from a player who had made just two cuts in big-time amateur tournaments (both at the Sunnehanna) and never qualified for a U.S. Amateur into a player who now has a notable amateur win on his resume.

As for the U.S. Amateur, which will be played at Pinehurst No. 2 next month, Dossey has yet to qualify. But he’s scheduled to tee it up in a July 23 qualifier at White Deer Run Golf Club in Vernon Hills, Ill., near Chicago.

“It’ll be my last U.S. Amateur – and my first – so there’s a lot of motivation,” Dossey said.

Especially considering what Dossey already has proven he can do at Pinehurst.

Mouw takes it to Banke in Cal State Am final

Incoming Pepperdine freshman William Mouw defeated San Diego State sophomore Christian Banke, 4 and 2, in Saturday’s scheduled 36-hole final of the California State Amateur.

Mouw took a quick 3-up lead after six holes of the morning session at Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Dunes Course before Banke battled back to square the match after 12 holes. Banke won five holes in a seven-hole stretch to take a 2-up lead after 16, but Mouw got one back on the par-5 18^th.

The afternoon portion began with another Mouw win at No. 1, and the Chino, Calif., native never trailed again after winning the sixth. He closed out the match with birdie on the par-4 16^th.

Free rallies to capture Future Masters

Jones Free put together a back-nine comeback Saturday to win the 15-18 age division of the 70^th Press Thornton Future Masters.

The 16-year-old Alabama commit from Selma, Ala., trailed 36-hole leader Maxwell Ford by three shots through seven holes of the final round at Dothan (Ala.) Country Club. But Free birdied four of his final 11 holes and sunk a 4-footer for par on the last to shoot 1-under 69 and clinch a one-shot victory over Ford at 10 under.

“It was pretty nerve-racking, but you’ve got to love the moment,” Free told the Dothan Eagle. “… It was a pretty big comeback.”

Ford, a 2021 recruit from Peachtree Corners, Ga., fired a 9-under 61 in the opening round before finishing with a final-round 71. Ford’s twin brother, David, tied for third at 4 under with Mississippi State commit Harrison Davis and Austin Coggin.

Li, Moldovan win Polo titles

Lucy Li and Maxwell Moldovan captured titles at the AJGA’s Polo Golf Junior Classic on Friday at Liberty National. Li defeated Savannah Grewal, 5 and 3, in the girls final while Moldovan beat Taehoon Song, 3 and 2, in the boys final.

“Looking at the trophy there are so many crazy names on there like Tiger Woods and it just feels really good to be back in the winner’s circle again,” Li said.

DETROIT – A wayward approach to the 14th green that nearly landed in Flint largely summed up Cameron Champ’s disastrous third round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Champ surged into Saturday’s final pairing thanks to a second-round 65, and the Tour rookie appeared in position to contend for his second victory of the season. But those plans quickly went awry, as he got caught under the lip of a bunker on the par-3 fifth hole en route to double bogey and ultimately was 10 shots worse than the previous day, shooting a 3-over 75 that beat only two players among the 71 who made the cut.

After starting the day one shot off the lead, Champ is now 13 shots behind playing partner Nate Lashley and among a tie for 25th at 10 under.

“I got a bad break on 5, duffed it almost twice. Just tried to keep it together after that,” Champ said. “Hit a few squirrely tee shots still again, just like the first two days. So tomorrow just kind of come out with a clear head and just play.”

Champ’s shots didn’t get any more squirrely than his second from 256 yards into the par-5 14th, which flew over not only the green but also the entire grandstand erected behind it. His ball ultimately came to rest in a portion of the 18th fairway, and the situation created a lengthy delay as rules officials determined how best to grant Champ relief from the grandstand.

Eventually, an official paced off the distance Champ had to the pin and allowed him to take a free drop from the same distance to the left of the green near the 16th tee, away from the grandstands that formed a tight barrier around the 14th green. 

Champ pitched on from 80 yards away and eventually made par.

“Thought the wind was into us and it really wasn’t. I hit 3-wood and probably should have hit a 3-iron, and air-mailed the green,” Champ said. “It was definitely different. I was not expecting the ball to go there.”

DETROIT – Even if Nate Lashley is going to run away with the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic, Doc Redman has plenty to play for in the final round.

The former U.S. Amateur champ has faced an uphill battle since turning pro more than a year ago, and currently only has status on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada. But Redman shot a 62 Monday to earn medalist honors in the qualifier, and he’s made the most of an unexpected opportunity. That includes a third-round 67 that left him in a tie for fifth at 14 under, nine shots off the lead.

“It’s been nice to see the results come together. It’s been a grind,” Redman said. “This was kind of an unexpected bonus, so just trying to make the most of it and keep the pedal down.”

Redman’s current travel plans include a trip to Minnesota on Monday for another shot to qualify for the 3M Open. Failing that, he’ll head across the bridge from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario for a Mackenzie Tour event, where he’s currently sixth in the Order of Merit with the top five at season’s end earning Korn Ferry Tour cards for 2020.

But that could all change with a big finish at Detroit Golf Club. A top-10 result would earn him a tee time next week at the 3M, while Redman finished T-18 at the Wells Fargo Championship on a sponsor invite in his only other Tour start this year. That means he also has a chance to earn enough non-member points this week to ensure a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in August, where he’d have a shot at a PGA Tour card for next season.

“It’s comforting to know that I’ve definitely got a job somewhere next year,” he said. “Tomorrow is just a matter of sticking to the game plan and seeing what happens. It’ll be a fun opportunity.”