When the wheels come off on the golf course, it’s never a good thing.
Boyd Summerhays’ just popped . . . literally.
The front left tire on his push cart exploded on the bridge between the 16th green and 17th tee box, giving the 29-year-old Farmington, Utah, resident his biggest scare of the day.
“It was like a gunshot,” he said. “It really scared me, I thought somebody was shooting.”
Summerhays shook off the scare Saturday to card a 3-under-par 68 in the Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. His 8-under 205 total after three rounds gives him a two-shot lead heading into today’s final round.
Former DU standout Charlie Soule, who finished tied for fourth in 2005, and Kyle Spahr of Barrington, Ill., shot 67s to lead a pack of nine golfers within five shots of the lead.
“It looks like you are going to have to go out and shoot another good score,” said Summerhays, who played at Oklahoma State and is a nephew of longtime touring professional Bruce Summerhays. “Somebody could easily go out there and go 6- or 7-under, if someone gets hot.”
Summerhays’ approach to the 7,220-yard Green Valley Ranch layout has been simple: Find the center of the green, be aggressive when he sees fit and let the putter do the rest.
It would have been a bogey- free round for Summerhays except for a three-putt miscue on the par-4 12th.
Spahr, who made his professional debut last season at the Colorado Open, did manage a bogey-free round. He birdied three of his first six holes to move up the leaderboard.
“I’m hitting the ball well and whatever happens, happens,” said Spahr, who opened with a 68 on Thursday. “With this course, you’ve got to take it day by day because the conditions change and there are a lot of outside factors. I don’t want to put a number in my head.”
Soule, a Longmont High School graduate, made up ground with birdies on Nos. 11, 15 and 18. He knows a win would be more special for a Colorado native.
“I would love to walk away with this one,” Soule said. “I’m definitely not as nervous being in the last couple of groups, and always feel now that when I shoot under par that I could have gotten a little more out of it and frustrated with where I am as opposed to kind of grinding as hard as I could.”
The low round of the day was carded by Lakewood’s Geoff Keffer, whose 6-under 65 left him in a tie for fourth, three shots back, with Brian Kortan of Albuquerque and defending champion John Douma of Scottsdale, Ariz.
Former Legacy High School standout Steve Ziegler, who won one of his two Class 5A state titles at Green Valley Ranch, is four shots back, tied with 1994 champion Brian Guetz.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
