CROMWELL, Conn. _ C.T. Pan, a PGA Tour rookie, finished tied for second at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. So he knows what it's like to be on the doorstep of victory.
"I guess I'll keep knocking on the door and one day see what happens," Pan said Saturday after shooting a 6-under par 64 to move into a fourth-place tie at 8 under.
On Sunday, we'll see what happens. He is four strokes off the lead.
Pan does have important runner-up experience to draw on, though it's six months old. He has missed the cut in six of his past seven events, so weekend golf has become a rarity. He hasn't really been knocking on the door. Most weeks, he's been kicked off the property come Friday evening.
"The key, I guess, is just staying patient," said Pan, 25, who is from Taiwan and attended the University of Washington. "You just have to trust your game and trust yourself, trust your preparation. Sometimes it takes a while to happen."
Pan was the best player at the TPC River Highlands in round three, shooting 31 on the back nine (his opening nine holes) and 33 on the front. He benefited from playing early (teeing off at 10:45 a.m., as part of the first group of the day at No. 10), with the course still soft and wet from the morning rain.
"I have to be honest, it was kind of quiet," Pan said. "It wasn't as windy. Three birdies in four holes really helped me get my mindset to keep the momentum going."
Pan made three consecutive birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13, and another on 16, to finish the back nine at 4-under 31.
He made the turn to the front as the sun and wind worked to dry out the course and added another two birdies (holes 3 and 6), eventually finishing off a bogey-free round. Pan hasn't made a bogey since the 16th hole of his opening round.
Pan played on the Web.com Tour last season. In 2015, he won two events on the Canadian tour.
Considering his miserable play over the past couple of months, could Pan have expected such a solid performance?
"I feel my game's there," said Pan, whose initials are for Cheng-tsung. "I feel my game is there to be top-10, top-20, to give myself a good chance. But somehow I couldn't get momentum going and I've been making the average of 2{ birdies a round, and that doesn't work out here. Have to make a lot of birdies."
