PORTO FELIZ, Brazil— After firing back-to-back 63s, Argentina’s Jaime López Rivarola slowed down his impressive pace a bit to card a third-round of 2-under 69 Saturday at Fazenda Boa Vista. However, the two-shot lead he enjoyed at the start of the day remained intact heading into the final round of the JHSF 67th Aberto do Brasil—the Brazil Open Championship.

López Rivarola, who went bogey-free for the first 45 holes of the tournament, is at 18-under for the week. Chasing him is Guatemala’s José Toledo and Chile’s Cristóbal Del Solar, who moved into a tie for second, at 16-under.

Toledo shared the low-round-of-the-day, a 7-under 64, with Rowin Caron of the Netherlands, who moved to 15-under to rank solo fourth. American Mitchell Meissner and Mexico’s José Narro are two shots further back in a two-way tie for fifth, at 13-under.

The wind, gusting to 29 mph was a factor Saturday. “It was very different from the first two days, mostly on the front nine, which is the toughest part of the course. The wind was blowing significantly, so we went out trying to stay out of trouble,” said López Rivarola, who shot 1-under on the front, recording his only birdie on No. 8.

The leader made his first and only bogey of the week on 10, recovering quickly with a birdie on 11. After parring the next six holes, he got another birdie on 18, a hole he has played at 5-under for the week. “I feel I was able to take good care of the round,” added the leader. “The putter didn’t work as well as the first two days. I struck the ball with great consistency, staying committed to my shots. It wasn’t 8-under as the other two days, but 2-under for the kind of day we had today is pretty good.”

Ranked 98th on the Totalplay Cup standings, López Rivarola has a big day ahead Sunday. If he keeps things under control the payday could be big as he is projected to move into the seventh spot with a win.

“I never put any extra pressure on myself. (Today) I was able to handle those moments when the putts were not dropping as they did the first two days. It’s a matter of going day by day, seeing what the day brings and where it takes me,” said the 27-year old leader, a University of Georgia alum whose best career finish on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica was a tie for second at the 2018 Costa Rica Classic.

Key Information

While tournament leader Jaime López Rivarola will be looking for his first PGA TOUR Latinoamérica title, his final-group playing partners will be looking to improve their win tally. Cristóbal Del Solar is a two-time Tour winner, with victories at the 2018 Abierto del Centro and the 2019 Puerto Plata Open, while José Toledoclaimed his only title at the 2017 Costa Rica Classic. They will start the final round off No. 1 at 11:30 a.m. local time Sunday.

With the course open to low scores, the last two editions of the JHSF Aberto do Brazil at Fazenda Boa Vista have featured come-from-behind wins. In 2018, the first time the Tour held the tournament here, Colombia’s Marcelo Rozo entered the final round trailing by seven and in a tie for 12th, but he carded a 63 for a one-shot win, at 20-under. In 2019, American Shad Tuten was trailing by one in a tie for second and carded a 67 to win by two, at 21-under.

After missing the first two events of the season due to a back injury, Guatemala’s José Toledo has finished inside the top 30 in his three starts this year: tied for 18th at Estrella del Mar Country Club, tied for 29th at Termas Golf Club and tied for 27th at Cordoba Golf Club. “I have had decent finishes but not great weeks. Anyway, I have been comfortable with my game, and this week I have made a few more putts, which has given me the chance to be up there,” said the 35-year old who got hot early, making putts from 12, 18, and 30 feet to go birdie-eagle-birdie between holes 2 and 4. He recorded three more birdies, on 11, 13 and 18, for a bogey-free 64 that moved him from a tie for sixth into a tie for second.

For the third straight day, Chile’s Cristóbal Del Solar remained the leading player among those who entered the week inside the Totalplay Cup Points List top 10. He entered the day trailing by four at solo third, and after birdieing four of the last eight holes to shoot 4-under, he now trails by two in a tie for second. The Viña del Mar native will be one to keep an eye on Sunday as he has tied for second, tied for fifth and tied for fifth in his previous three starts and has shot 51-under in his last 15 rounds on Tour.

This is how the players inside the Totalplay Cup Points List top 10 stand through 54 holes:

After posting consecutive 67s to start the tournament, Rowin Caron fired a 7-under 64 Saturday to move into solo fourth. He shot 6-under 30 on the back-nine, recording birdies on 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, and 18. Coming off a 2020-21 season, Caron finished 13th on the Points List, with two third-place finishes as his best performances. The 28-year old from the Netherlands has been away from the spotlight this season recently. He has missed three cuts in five starts, with a tie for 25th at the Chile Open as his best to rank 78th on the Totalplay Cup Points List.

Third-Round Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 84. Wind NW at 15-29 mph.