Patrick Wilkes-Krier has the Finish Line in Sight at the Michigan Open

By Tom Lang

  ACME – Jack Nicklaus made The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort hard.

  Mother Nature made it even harder on Wednesday, with excessive high heat in the 90s and blustery winds during the third round of the 105th Michigan Open.

  Despite those extra challenges, lots of great Michigan golf was on display, yet not much changed at all atop the leaderboard.

  Leading wire-to-wire so far, Patrick Wilkes-Krier of Ann Arbor, shot a 2-under 70 to expand his 54-hole lead at 13-under par, heading into Thursday’s final round.

  “It was windy enough and riding on carts that we stayed cool enough so the heat didn’t really bother me today,” said Wilkes-Krier, who teaches and coaches at the Kendal Academy at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti. He is also the former U-M men’s assistant golf coach who played in the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont and fell just four strokes of making that cut.

  “I’ve got a game plan; I can adjust it based on wind and conditions,” he continued. “It’s mostly going to be about executing good swings and good putts. “Yes, the wind makes it harder, but I don’t mind; I can hit it low. So, I can combat it and did so in a lot of situations. And if (wind) makes the course play tougher, I think that works to my advantage right now.

  “I will try to play aggressive (Thursday) when it’s appropriate and try to make pars when that’s the best choice.”

  Wilkes-Krier leads by five strokes over Jake Kneen (8-under) of White Lake, a mini-tour player and the winner of the 2018 Michigan Open. In the third round Kneen scored three birdies, an eagle on the 6th, and a double bogey on the next hole.

  Joseph Juszczyk, a long-time mini tour pro from Dearborn Heights, is hanging close by in third place at 6-under par after firing 1-over on Wednesday.

  Two Hartland men who played for the blue and gold Eagles in high school are part of a four-way tie in fourth place at 5-under with one round remaining: Baker Stevenson and Beau Breault, who won the Michigan Amateur in 2018 at the Country Club of Detroit with Stevenson on his bag. Both have since turned pro.

  Stevenson was one of six golfers in the third round to shoot 6-under par. He had seven birdies and an eagle balanced by a bogey and double bogey. Also shooting 6-under was amateur William Anderson of Portage, and Kyle Gaines of Oxford.

  Wilkes-Krier came from behind last year to tie now defending champ Bradley Smithson, who won in a playoff to become only the 7th amateur to ever win the Michigan Open, a mostly pro-dominated event. He said that while getting the winner’s check last year since Smithson is an amateur, still playing golf at Michigan State, Wilkes-Krier wants to be the outright winner and walk away with the trophy.

  The leaders tee off at 11:50 a.m. on Thursday and a leaderboard can be found here: michiganpga.com