The final round of the 124th Wisconsin State Amateur should bring plenty of drama – and potentially another first-time tournament champion – as a dozen players are within three shots of third-round leader Drake Wilcox. Wilcox is even par through three rounds at The Lido, which is part of the Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa.
Wilcox, a Sheboygan Lutheran alumnus who played collegiately at Queens University of Charlotte, took the third-round lead on July 23 despite shooting a 3-over-par 75. He has managed to stay consistent, however, after opening with a 71-70 in his first two round.
That has allowed Wilcox the chance to begin the final round with a one-shot advantage over Milwaukee’s Garrett Schultz, Madison’s Charlie Erlandson, Middleton’s Jacob Beckman and second-round leader K.C. Nickel of Waunakee.
Nickel shot a 5-over 77 after opening his tournament with consecutive 70s but remained in the hunt. Erlandson, a member of the University of Wisconsin golf team, rallied back into contention with a 1-over 73 in his third round. Erlandson experienced a 10-shot swing from rounds one and two, going 67-77 in his first two days of the tournament.
Erlandson and Nickel are not alone in riding the rollercoaster that is The Lido, which opened in 2023. Two-time champion Ryan Quinn tumbled from contention at 2-under after two rounds into a tie for 40th by shooting 86 in his third round.
Meanwhile, Garrett Schultz had the lowest round of the day with a 1-under 71 to shoot up from 16th place.
Will Harned (Nashotah), Michael Addie (Sussex), Adam Miller (Nekoosa) and Vincent Sigl (Seymour) are tied for sixth at 1-over.
Even-par rounds allowed Max Brud (Stoughton) and Cody Guetzke (Hartland) to jump into a tie for 10th with Sebastian Kasun (Elm Grove) and Brandon Cloete (South Africa) at 2-over.
Past champions Garrett Jones (t15, 5-over) and Jack Schultz (t20, 6-over) are part of a group of nine golfers that are five and six shots back of Wilcox.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: State Am set up for wild finish as a dozen players chase leader Drake Wilcox at The Lido
Reporting by Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
