BEECHWOOD, Ohio — Kramer Hickok shot a 2-under 68 on Saturday to keep a one-stroke lead in the DAP Championship, the second of four Web.com Tour Finals events that will determine 25 PGA Tour cards.
One of 25 players who have already earned PGA Tour cards through the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, Hickok had a 12-under 198 total at Canterbury Golf Club. He matched the course record Thursday with a 63, and had a 67 on Friday.
"I really didn’t get myself too far out of position," Hickok said. "I had one bogey today and it was just one bad drive, but the rest of the day, it was just easy pars. Just a consistent day all around. I didn’t get myself in trouble and I wasn’t too stressed."
Hickok was 23rd on the regular-season list, and jumped from 23rd to 13th last week in Ohio with a tie for 14th in the series opener. The 26-year-old former University of Texas player was the 2017 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada player of the year, winning twice.
"I really want to get a win," Hickok said. "I’ve had a second and a third this year and I’ve been in the lead going in the back nine and finished a little short. I would love to get a win."
Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., is the top Canadian after a 67 on Saturday put him 6 under for the tournament, tied for 12th. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is tied for 58th at 1 over and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is tied for 62nd at 4 over. The latter player is the only one of the three to have locked up a PGA Tour card for next season.
Germany’s Stephan Jaeger remained second after a 68.
"I didn’t get off to a great start, honestly, but I just hung in there," Jaeger said. "I had good putts on Nos. 7 and 8 and finally made one on No. 9 that kind of got me going a little bit."
South Korea’s Sangmoon Bae, a two-time PGA Tour winner, was third at 9 under after a 69.
Six-time PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan had a 65 to move into a tie for fourth at 8 under with five-time PGA Tour champion Ben Crane (69), Justin Hueber (66), Brian Campbell (67), Peter Malnati (68) and Matt Jones (69).
The series features the top 75 players — Hueber was 42nd, Campbell 75th — from the Web.com regular-season money list, and Nos. 126-200 — Crane was 148th, Jones 151st, Mahan 159th, Malnati 161st, Jaeger 165th and Bae 207th — in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings.
Hickok and the other top-25 finishers on the Web.com regular-season money list are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for 25 cards based on series earnings.
"I feel like if I was in their shoes, I would have a little more pressure," Hickok said. "I feel like there would be more weight on my shoulders in order to play well. Being in my shoes, I have everything locked up and ready to go. I can’t move backwards, so all I can do is go out and play good golf."
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