Reno, NV – J.J. Henry collected 14 points in Saturday's third round to grab a 3-point lead after 54 holes of the Reno-Tahoe Open.
The Modified Stableford scoring system awards eight points for double eagles, five for eagles, two for birdies, zero for pars and subtracts one point for bogeys and three points for double-bogey or worse.
Henry finished three rounds at Montreux Golf and Country Club with 36 points. He will go for his second PGA Tour title on Sunday.
Second-round leader Alexandre Rocha tallied nine points to end alone in second with 33. He is one point ahead of John Mallinger, who amassed 10 points in round three.
Andres Romero also picked up 10 points on Saturday, but remained alone in fourth with 31 points.
Bill Lunde (14), Gary Christian (12) and John Daly (9) share fifth place with 28 points. Daly had grabbed the lead with an eagle on the par-5 13th, but he followed with three bogeys in the next three holes to slip back down the leaderboard.
"I got it going a little south there for a minute, but I didn't really hit that many bad shots when I made those bogeys. I just short-sided myself on them," Daly explained. "In this format, two of them could easily have been doubles. I actually just played for the bogeys."
Henry got off to a slow start with a birdie and six pars over the first seven holes. He dropped in back-to-back birdie efforts on the eighth and ninth to pick up four points and make the turn with 28 overall.
He started the second nine with three more pars before jumping up the leaderboard. Henry birdied the par-5 13th and followed with an eagle on the par-4 14th.
With those seven points, Henry soared into the lead with 35. He stumbled to a bogey on the 16th, but erased that mistake with a 2-putt birdie on No. 18 for two more points.
"The last month or so I've played pretty consistent golf. It's kind of the tell-all for me, when I putt well I seem to climb that board," Henry stated. "To make three eagles this week, I have an eagle in each round, and that's kind of jump-started the day each time.
"I played well here in the past and there are a lot of variables you have to figure out with the wind and the elevation. I enjoy coming here."
Rocha picked up four points on the front nine with birdies on the third and sixth. Around the turn, he parred his two holes before jumping up the leaderboard.
The Brazilian birdied three consecutive holes from the 12th to leap to 34 points and within two of Henry. However, Rocha faltered to a bogey on the par-4 17th to slip three behind the leader.
NOTES: Henry's lone PGA Tour win was at the 2006 Buick Championship...Henry, who has improved his total each day, has just two top-10 finishes in 24 starts this season...Rocha, who is winless on the PGA Tour, has missed 11 cuts combined on the PGA and Web.com Tours and his best finish on either tour was a tie for 49th at the PGA Tour's True South Classic.
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