Palm Beach Gardens, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Brad Fritsch shot a 2-under 70 in Monday's fifth round and he will head to the final day at the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament with a 5-shot lead.
Fritsch, who has now held the lead since the conclusion of round three, finished 90 holes at 22-under-par 336, five shots ahead of Andrew Landry. Fritsch played on the Fazio Course in his fifth round.
Play rotates over the par-71 Champion Course and the par-72 Fazio Course at PGA National for the six-round tournament.
Landry fired a 5-under 67 on Monday and he is alone in second place at 17- under 341. Rhein Gibson (65) and Matt Fast (68) are right behind Landry in third place at 15-under 343.
After struggling to a 77 in the second round, first-round leader Tain Lee has come storming back with three straight rounds in the 60s. His 68 Monday has him tied for fifth place at 14-under 344 with Dustin Bray, who also carded a 68.
Entering the day with a 6-shot lead, Fritsch got off to a slow start before making a run on the front nine. The Canadian tripped to a bogey at the second to fall back a shot, but he rebounded with back-to-back birdies on four and five.
Following a pair of pars on six and seven, Fritsch made it four birdies over six holes with gains on eight and nine.
Making the turn at 3-under for the day, Fritsch put his game on cruise control for a while as he made par on eight straight holes from No. 10. Still leading by six, Fritsch bogeyed the last to reduce his lead to five heading into the final round.
"It's a big thing (medalist)," said Fritsch. "I spent the last two years worrying about it on the PGA Tour. It'd be nice to get it out of the way. I've still got some decent status from last year on the Web.com Tour so I don't have as much pressure as some of the other guys. That's one of the reasons it's been a little easier for me this week."
Landry, also playing on the Fazio Course, was relatively routine on the front nine as he made two birdies on one and six.
On the back side, Landry drained an eagle on the par-5 12th, getting him to 4- under for the day. Landry sandwiched a bogey on 16 between two birdies on 15 and 17 before closing out with a par at the last.
Gibson had the second-lowest score on the day with a 7-under 65. Like Landry, Gibson made two birdies on the front nine of the Fazio Course on one and four. He then came out on fire on the back nine as Gibson rattled off five birdies in a six-hole stretch from 10. Gibson closed out his bogey-free round with a trio of pars from 16.
Fast was cruising on the Fazio Course as he made birdies on one, two, six, 10 and 12. A bogey at the last put a damper on an otherwise successful day and Fast will head to the final round tied for third.
NOTES: Fritsch had four top-10 finishes on the Web.com Tour last year without a victory ... The medalist will be exempt for the entire season, while the rest of the top-10 will be exempt until the third reshuffle ... Those that finish 11th to 45th are exempt through the second reshuffle, while the rest of the field will be conditionally exempt during the 2015 season.
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