Derek Barron leads Rosauers Open by two shots

There’s a nice big leaderboard for the Rosauers Open Invitational near Indian Canyon’s 18th green and once again it will feature many of the Pacific Northwest’s best golfers. Puyallup’s Derek Barron moved to the top of the list with a 9-under-par 62 – Saturday’s low round – for a two-day, 13-under 129. Three-time champion Corey Prugh is two shots back after a bogey-free 64. Jeff Coston, also a three-time champion, fired a 65 and trails Barron by three strokes entering today’s final round. Coston, from Blaine, Washington, shares third with amateur Reid Hatley (66), Ocean Dunes (Florence, Oregon) pro Bob Rannow (65) and The Reserve Vineyards (Aloha, Oregon) assistant Brad Faller (64). Defending champion Tim Feenstra (69) and amateurs Eric Ansett (68) and Andrew Whalen (67) are tied for seventh at 9-under 133. Barron, who shot a course-record 59 in Wednesday’s pro-am, and Prugh, who holds the tournament record with a 21-under 192 in 2009, will be joined by Faller in the final threesome at 12:12 p.m. Barron jump-started his round by chipping in for eagle on the par-5 second. He drove the par-4 sixth and made birdie and followed with another bird on No. 7. He birdied Nos. 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18 for a closing 31. He made a downhill, hard-breaking birdie putt on No. 13 and a 20-footer on the 14th. He drove the 245-yard, par-4 17th with a 4-iron and two-putted. “Hit it the same (as Friday’s 67),” Barron said, “I just made some putts.” He intends to stay aggressive with 11 players within five shots of the lead. “I’m just going to play the same,” he said. “That’s probably going to be my No. 1 thing. I’m not going out there and try to protect. I’m going to try and increase.” Prugh had seven birdies and no “5s” on his scorecard. He’s 11 under on his last 27 holes. “Definitely happy with the number,” said Prugh, assistant pro at Manito. “I was even after nine holes (Friday). After that first nine, I’ve been pretty clean.” Prugh said he hit “maybe two crummy shots and I made birdie on one of them and I was able to escape from the other.” He started quickly with birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, and closed strong with birdies on Nos. 15, 17 and 18. Prugh and Barron are frequently in contention at Northwest events, but Prugh can’t recall playing in the same group. “Controlling what you can control,” Prugh said of his approach today. “I’ve watched leaderboards and it’s usually worse.” Coston, who started on No. 10, birdied four straight holes, Nos. 17, 18, 1 and 2. He also birdied No. 8, a tough, 224-yard par 3. “I left a lot of shots out there, I’m sure I’m not the only guy,” said Coston, who will be in the second-to-last group with Rannow and Hatley at 12:02. Coston has been a regular on the Champions Tour this season with nine made cuts in 10 events. He’s playing in his 20th Rosauers. “This is probably the finest shape this course has been in,” he said. “The fairways especially and the greens are really healthy.” Hatley, a former Ferris Saxon and Arizona Wildcat, started on the back side. He was even after nine but scorched the front in 5-under 30. Ansett, also a former Saxon who is a sophomore at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, had an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys.