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Scott Brown trying to reboot season at Puerto Rico Open

By Scott Michaux
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DORAL, Fla. -- On a different Donald Trump golf course in different tropical locale, Scott Brown is rebooting his slumping season in the same place he got it started two years ago.

Brown -- a star at North Augusta High and USC Aiken -- finds himself in a familiar place atop the Puerto Rico Open leaderboard entering today's final round at the Trump International Golf Club. It doesn't matter to him that golf's heavyweights are gathered at Trump National Doral for a WGC event. The stakes are as high even if the purse is 60 percent less.

"It doesn't get easier at all," Brown said of trying to win for a second time on the PGA Tour. "It's just as nerve-wracking because winning does so much for you out here and everybody knows it at this level. It gives you two years and gets you in some good tournaments like the PGA and Kapalua. If anybody tells you it gets easier winning, they'd be lying to you. Tiger (Woods) made it look easy in his career, but for the most part look at everybody else. It's hard to win out here."

Brown won the 2013 Puerto Rico Open, making a birdie on the 18th hole to edge Jordan Spieth and Fabian Gomez by a stroke. Just like two years ago, he'll enter the final round tied for the 54-hole lead, tied with Chris Smith. Eighteen other players are within three shots.

Unlike two years ago, however, Brown didn't expect to be in this position after starting the third round 90 minutes ahead of the leaders tied for 21st and six strokes behind the leaders. He shot a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 to vault higher up the leaderboard than he imagined possible. Birdies on the 17th and 18th holes proved crucial.

"It's definitely like a bonus," Brown said of his standing in the last group. "I said before teeing off this morning if I could shoot 5 (under) I could get myself in contention or at least reaching distance. Obviously I thought it would be a little bit better at the top. I thought I might be two or three back going into (Sunday)."

The 7,500-yard course obviously suits his game.

"It sets my eye pretty well, and I think it's got a great mix of holes," Brown said. "It's not our typical tour course now where it's so long. It keeps a lot of us in the game a little bit here."

It's a welcome opportunity for Brown, who has struggled mightily since October. Brown missed the cut in seven of his past nine starts, finishing 62nd in the two weekends he reached.

"Obviously I was struggling on the West Coast and I got some good work in with my coach at Honda," Brown said. "I've been kind of fighting the left shot for the last six or seven weeks and we've got it kind of dialed in and figured out where it was coming from. So I'm hitting it pretty good this week and just need to make some putts."

It's been a far cry from a year ago, when Brown made 21 of 30 cuts including four top-five finishes including the John Deere and Heritage.

"I work really hard at it," Brown said. "I don't expect to play great all the time, but I expect to be there at least some because I work so hard in practice. I'm super proud of the way I've played. I've had nine or 10 top-10s on tour, which is not where I'd like to be but it's not the worst, either. I've had some good tournaments where I've had a chance to win, too. Hopefully the more you get yourself in that position and the more opportunities you get to win golf tournaments, you just do it and in the right place get the right bounce and it happens."

Winning an "opposite" event doesn't earn an automatic invitation to the Masters Tournament -- a dream goal for Brown.

But it carries all the other benefits of tour victories, which makes the stress level equivalent if not greater than what the top 50 players are experiencing this week at Doral.

"I'm sure it will feel the same (Sunday)," Brown said, comparing it to two year ago when he had no full-time tour status. "I'm sure I'll be just as nervous. That's why we play though, to get nervous and all the anxiety cranks up. Obviously winning is a big deal for anybody. Doesn't matter what level it's on. I'll be feeling it but hopefully I just embrace it and go out and play a good round."

The Puerto Rico crosswinds have wreaked havoc on the scoring this week, with Brown 12 strokes higher than he was two years ago. But forecasted lighter winds today mean he'll need to keep scoring to hold off the field.

"I've got to set my sight on a number and not worry about what everybody else is doing," Brown said. "I've got to reach double digits or 11-, 12-under par. So another 5- or 6-under for me and I like my chances. If somebody beats it, that guy deserves it."

Ranked 223rd in the world, Puerto Rico doesn't offer enough world ranking points to even get Brown down to his career-best 128th. But it would jump-start his flagging season, get him into Bay Hill and give him an outside shot of chasing a Masters bid.

"Puerto Rico would not get me in (the Masters) world ranking or with a win, but I have to play really good to get in there and probably have to win somewhere else along the way to get in there or just go on a tear from here until Augusta to get in to be honest," he said. "I'll play all of them they'll let me play in all the way to Augusta. If I play good (today), maybe I can get into Bay Hill. It's one of my favorite tournaments out here and hopefully I can get in it."

This article was written by Scott Michaux from The Augusta Chronicle and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.