Joaquín Niemann and Guillermo Pereira continued in tandem and completed a positive third round at RBC Heritage. The Chileans remained on the lookout for leadership in the PGA Tour competition, having both signed a -2 card, which left their respective aggregate points at -5 and put them in 13th place, four strokes behind. summit to which it currently belongs. Harold Varner III, who dominates with -11.

Mito and Joaco both come from two very well balanced presentations, which allowed them to finish the first two days in the top 10 of the competition which distributes eight million dollars in prizes. The two closed on Friday, reigning over a wind that complicated the good game, in eighth place and with a score of -5, so the top was not far away and the mission on Saturday was to improve their numbers to reach the final day of the tournament with the best chance of winning the crown. And while his performance didn’t stand out too much, the task was fulfilled.

The Paine native and the Talagan native took to the course at Harbor Town Golf Links with some pressure. Competitors who started the course early put in a great performance and kicked off their nationals in 16th place, so making as few mistakes as possible was going to be key to not losing ground.

The Chileans took to the course one after the other, in another day of golf in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The first to go was Pereira, who made the trip from hole 1, accompanied by North American Matt Kuchar. Niemann, meanwhile, started on the same flag, in the company of the Austrian Sepp Straka. Getting off to a good start was going to be vital to staying focused and not sinking into despair. And so it was, despite the times when they had to demand a little more of themselves to amend the difficulties that presented themselves to both of them equally.

The initial nine flags were positive for nationals. Both agreed to sign their first birdie of the day on the second hole, which allowed them to face the rest a little more calmly. Mito missed a chance for another under-par shot at 6, unlike Joaco, who was able to do it at 8, with a notable second impact. However, he immediately stumbled into a bogey on the next so the two momentarily entered the final run of the day -1 and in 17th place.

Joaco and Mito went from under to over in the remaining holes. Niemann had to resort to another shot over par to overcome the tenth flag, just as Mito had to do at the 11th. However, the two recovered in time to better their record for the day.

Niemann scored further birdies, on holes 12 and 16, where he stood out with a superb shot, while Pereira did the same, on holes 12 and 15, to stay in the top 20. Talagan’s man was about to add another backhand at minute 7, when he sent the ball into the sandbox, only to recover optimally to avoid adding another bogey and stay at the lookout for the top 10.

This Sunday, the Chileans will look to make a clear final round to improve their squad and fight to the end for the title. His level has been up to par and the option of keeping the trophy does not seem so far away as the distance with the leaders is so small. The cup will be for one and the nationals are far from giving up in a tournament where they have shown their entire category.