Gulfport, MS – Four-time eGolf Tour winner Dustin Bray of Asheboro, NC survived stifling heat and scattered showers during Friday’s third round of the Island View Casino Championship to post a 6-under 66 and a 20-under par total through three rounds of the 72-hole event. The former UNC Tar Heel star sits two shots clear of the field heading into Saturday’s final round, with an eye on career win No. 5 and the event’s $32,000 first-place prize.

Bray entered Friday’s third round at host Windance Country Club at 14-under par – one shot back of 36-hole leader Matt Short of Hudson, NC.

Out of the gate on day three, he tossed red numbers early and often. A birdie-bogey-birdie start on Nos. 1 through 3 brought him to the par-4 fifth at 1-under par, where Bray hit the proverbial gas with a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch to move to 5-under par through seven holes.

“I got really lucky there on No. 7,” said Bray. “I had about a 35-footer for eagle that broke about 6 or 7 feet, one of those you’re just trying to get close. But, it happened to topple in, so that’s always nice.”

With a 5-under 30 on his outward nine, Bray had seized control of the tournament at 19-under par and four shots clear of the field with nine holes to play in the third round.

While trying to run and hide from his competitors, the three-time Tar Heel “All America” selection succeeded, posting birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to reach 21-under par for the week.

With storms in the area and rain heavy at times, Bray briefly came unglued on the par-3 15th with a double-bogey that erased all of his progress over the prior two holes.

“The rain came up and I lost focus a little bit. I hit a 7-iron short right and had a tough pitch to a tight pin,” he said. “I tried to hit a big, high flop and went right underneath it and dumped it under the lip in the bunker. I missed a 12-footer for bogey after that.”

A bounce-back birdie on the par-5 16th recovered half of the two lost shots on 15, and brought Bray back to 20-under par overall. When he managed to close with pars in the rain on 17 and 18, the 33-year-old was left with a 6-under 66 and a 20-under 196 total with just 18 holes to go.

Adam Webb

“I’m hitting a lot of solid putts, that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m in such a good mental state. That’s all my mental coach and my swing coach have been working on,” Bray said after his round. “I’m just trying to keep it simple. I’ve finally found out that you can make a lot of birdies if you just try and hit the greens and keep it in front of you.”

Bray is making just his fourth eGolf Tour start of the year after dominating eGolf Florida this past winter with three wins and the tour’s inaugural money title.

He spent 2007 through 2009 on the Web.com Tour, posting four top-10 finishes, one of which was a runner-up at the 2008 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational.

Having competed on nearly every level of professional golf, Bray may in fact be playing the best golf of his life over the last year, dating back to a playoff loss at the tour’s Salisbury Classic in October of 2013.

Never one to look overly happy on the golf course, he opted to do a 180 in terms of attitude and outlook, and the early reports show that it was a move well made.

“I’m just having fun. I feel like I got to be a negative player there for a few years,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you, I looked around at some of the negative players out here and I just decided I not only didn’t want to be one of those guys, but I didn’t want to look like one of those guys.”

Bray’s ability to enjoy tournament golf could be put to the test tomorrow, as damp conditions have made Windance highly vulnerable to low numbers – as evidenced by the nine rounds of 64 or lower posted through 54 holes. With a bevy of players giving him their best shots, he’s more than prepared to handle the heat, both literally and figuratively.

“I’m just going to do what I’ve been doing. When you win, it seems like it just happens. When you try to win, it seems like it never happens,” he said. “If somebody blows by me, so be it. We’re just going to try and have some fun and make some putts.”

Adam Webb of Ridgeway, VA, who entered day three in a tie for second alongside Bray, posted a 4-under 68 to reach 18-under par through 54 holes. The former Longwood University standout sits alone in second place, two shots back heading into Saturday.

Playing alongside Bray and Short on Friday, Webb was 1-over par through six holes and even par through nine before recovering late. Closing birdies on 11, 13, 15 and 17 allowed the 26-year-old to rally on the back nine with a 4-under 33 and a 68 for the day, again earning a spot in the final threesome.

Webb earned the first win of his eGolf Tour career at the NorthStone Open in March. The victory delivered an exemption into the Web.com Tour’s South Georgia Classic, where the affable first-timer shocked the world through 63 holes.

Patrick Lundy

Webb opened his week with rounds of 70-70-65—205 to slide into Sunday’s final pairing at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, just one back of overnight leader Carlos Ortiz. Through nine holes of the final round, Webb found himself tied for the lead with Blayne Barber, trying to become one of just a handful of players to win on the Web.com Tour in their first career start.

The back nine proved to be cruel to Webb, however, as four bogeys gave way to a 4-over 40 and a tie for eighth. The longtime Roanoke, VA native wound up six shots back of Barber at 9-under par.

Patrick Lundy of Little River, SC is alone in third place at 17-under 199, three shots back of Bray.

Lundy, who started the day at 9-under par and six shots off the lead, got off to a less-than-ideal start with a bogey on the par-3 second and four pars to sit at 1-over par through five holes. After that point, he played brilliant golf.

Birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8 put Lundy at 2-under par on the turn and 11-under overall, but it was a back-nine surge that pushed him up the leaderboard.

Birdies on 10 and 11 gave way to an eagle on the par-5 12th and a birdie on the par-4 13th, which suddenly vaulted Lundy 7-under on the day and 8-under par over an eight-hole stretch from Nos. 6 through 13.

A late birdie on 17 took Lundy to 8-under for the round, where he finished after a birdie at the last left him with a third-round 64.

Lundy, who will play in Saturday’s final pairing alongside Bray and Webb, is making the 21st start of his eGolf Tour career, where he has notched a pair of top-10s, including a career-best T6 at the FairwayStyles.com Open in 2009.

Four-time eGolf Tour winner T.J. Howe of Osceola, PA is in solo-fourth place at 16-under par after rounds of 66-67-67—200.

A former star at Penn State, Howe has notched all four wins in his last 16 months on tour – the most of any player during that span.

Final-round play in the Island View Casino Championship will begin at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.