Clay Homan enjoys playing Greenwood Country Club. And that has shown in his scores here through the last three years.
Homan, the golf coach at Mississippi State, holds a two-shot lead going into today's final round of the 60th annual Greenwood Country Club Invitational. His 1-under-par 71 Saturday left him at 10-under for the first two days of the tournament.
"This is a great golf course. There is a lot of course management involved in having a successful round, and I like that," said the two-time State Am champion. "You also have to shape the ball on just about every hole, and I like that because I don't like to hit the ball straight.
"A lot of the holes on this course just seem to fit my eye, too."
Homan will try to fend off Greenville's Michael Namaan and several others within three shots as he goes for his second GCC Invitational championship in the last three years.
Homan won it in 2005 and finished tied for third last year.
Namaan shot a 71 Saturday after posting a first-round 65. He eagled his final hole, the par-5 18th, to get back to under par after making three straight bogeys on holes 14, 15 and 16.
Namaan's second shot on 18, a 6-iron from 190 yards, wound up about eight feet from the hole.
"That was a big, big eagle there to keep within in striking distance of Clay," Namaan said. "Clay is a heck of a player. I will probably have to shoot at 65 or 66 to beat him."
Homan started his round Saturday with a bogey on the par-4 10th. He hit his tee shot out of bounds on the par-4 17th and made a double bogey and made the turn at 2 over.
Homan made three birdies (at 1, 6 and 9) during his final nine holes to finish at 1 under.
"I just wasn't driving the ball well at first. I was kind of guiding the ball," he explained.
Homan expects to be pushed to the limit in today's final round. Josh Oller, one of Homan's Bulldog players, Carter Callaway of Hattiesburg and Freddie Janneck of Madison are all just three shots back at 7 under.
Callaway, who has some professional experience on the mini tours, shot 69 Saturday. He had a 68 Friday with a 7 on the par-3 third hole.
Janneck and Oller carded 68s in the second round.
"To me this is a golf course where no lead is safe, because there is a lot of trouble out there. Out of bounds comes into play on 11 of the 18 holes," Homan said. "Just playing for par is not always a safe bet.
"It should be a fun, competitive final round with a strong final group like this."
Ole Miss golfer Kyle Ellis, one of the pre-tournament favorites, won't be a factor. He's seven shots back after shooting 71, 70.
