Myers laps Lilac field with record

Colby Myers certainly didn’t consider himself out of contention following Friday’s second round of the 47th annual Lilac Invitational golf tournament.

But the 27-year-old pro, playing out of Toka Sticks Golf Course in Mesa, Ariz., knew he needed to manufacture a couple of ridiculously low scores to have a chance of reeling in the second-round leaders of the region’s only 72-hole golf event.

Myers put together the first of those Saturday, blistering The Fairways at West Terrace golf course with an 11-under-par 61. And his ridiculously low total not only equaled the course record set by PGA Tour veteran Kirk Triplett in the 1989 Lilac, but propelled him, as well, into a three-stroke lead over second-round co-leader Conner Robbins and Troy Kelly heading into today’s final 18 holes.

“It’s hard to describe,” Myers said of his 61, which included three chip-ins – two of which were for eagles, eight birdies and, even more remarkably, a three-putt bogey on the short 343-yard, par-4 11th hole that many players have been driving during the first three days of the tournament.

“I never envisioned a 61, but I did see myself shooting seven or eight under par, because I’ve been hitting the ball good. Then, last night on the putting green, I figured some things out, and from there it just went crazy.”

Former Gonzaga University basketball player Colin Floyd, who is playing in his first tournament as a professional, was paired with Myers and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the chance to witness Lilac history.

“It was fun to watch,” said Floyd, who shot a second-round 69 to put himself in a five-way tie for 12th place at 209.

“At one point, the other pro in our group and I told him we were going to throw him in the water if he didn’t cool off.”

Myers, who opened his third Lilac with rounds of 67 and 69, enters today’s final round at 19-under 197. He will be paired with Robbins and Kelly, who are both at 16-under 200 in the final threesome, scheduled to tee off at approximately 12:30 p.m.

Robbins, who was tied for the lead with Jim Bob Coleman at 12-under 132 after two rounds, overcame a 3-putt bogey on the par-4 ninth and shot a back-nine 32 to keep Myers in sight.

“That’s just a great round,” he said of Myers’ 61. “All you can do is shake his hand and hope some of it rubs off on you.”

After his hiccup at No. 9, Robbins almost threw away the tournament on the relatively easy par-5 14th, when he hit his second shot long and left into a dirt lot where a new home is under construction. The area was staked out as a lateral hazard, however, and the former University of Washington standout managed to pitch his third shot under a tree limb and onto the green, just 8 feet from the pin, from where he made birdie.

After badly pulling his errant second shot, an obviously frustrated Robbins banged the 5-iron he had hit onto another he had lying on the ground. But after his saving pitch from a construction zone, he birdied the next two holes and finished with a respectable 68.

“I kind of needed to get pissed off,” said last year’s Lilac runner-up. “I needed a little fire to get the competitive juices flowing.”

Coleman, who was playing with Robbins in the final threesome, hit his second shot on No. 14 into the water and made a bogey-6 on his way to a disappointing 73. But it was the 7-iron he hit over the green and into an unplayable lie in the reeds behind the peninsula green on the par-3 13th that officially marked his demise.

Coleman took a stance in the reeds after finding his tee shot, but opted to take a drop from the drop zone short and left of the green and ended up making a double-bogey 5.

“That was kind of the killer to my round,” he said, admitting that his 1-over effort all but choked off his chances of laying claim to the $5,000 winner’s check that will be awarded following today’s final round.

“For me to win, I’ll have to shoot nothing on the front nine and then hope I play really well on the back,” he said.

Robbins said he likes the idea of playing with the leader, even though both he and his former UW teammate Kelly, who shot a third-round 68, have three huge strokes to make up on Myers.

“I like having (Myers) in my group, for sure, even though he just shot 61,” he said. “You had to figure one or more of those kinds of rounds were out there. Hopefully, there’s another still out there for me.”