Blythewood, SC – For the past three years, Michael Maness of Greenville, SC spent long days and countless hours caddying for some of the game’s best players on the PGA TOUR. A decision in late 2011 to put down the boss’ bag and pick up his own has led the former junior standout to his current platform – tied for the lead through 54 holes of the eGolf Tour’s Columbia Open, just 18 holes away from realizing that he himself might not be far away from the bright lights of the big TOUR. Only this time, someone will have “Maness” on the caddie bib.

The Columbia Open presented by Groucho’s Deli is the eighth of 24 scheduled events on the 2012 eGolf Tour schedule, and is being contested this week at both Columbia Country Club and Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Blythewood, SC.

Entering Friday’s third round at tournament host Columbia Country Club, Maness was in a tie for fourth following rounds of 64-68—132, trailing Canada’s Nick Taylor, who held a share of the lead alongside Jack Fields at 14-under 129. With perfect conditions and flawless greens at hand, the vast majority of the 53 players to make the cut took full advantage of scoring opportunities on the Ellis Maples-designed course.

Maness took his time getting the engine started.

“I hit my approach on No. 1 to the back of the green and three-putted, then didn’t birdie the par-5 third, and I felt like I was falling backwards pretty quickly,” said Maness, 31.

A 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 sixth took Maness back to even par, and when he added birdies on Nos. 7 and 9, the former University of South Carolina golfer was able to catch up to the field with a 2-under 34 on the turn.

“I hit a good approach into No. 9 and was able to make birdie there,” he said. “That got things going for me. Everyone else seemed to be on fire, so I needed things to get going.”

An up-and-down for birdie at the par-5 12th took Maness to 3-under for the day and 14-under for his round, in turn bringing him to the drive-able par-4 13th.

“They moved the tee up a box on 13, which made it 307 yards to the pin,” said Maness. “I hit a great tee shot that snuck up the left side of the green and settled about 12 feet from the hole.”

When the 12-foot eagle putt dropped, Maness had reached 16-under for the week and was eyeing a spot in Saturday’s final threesome.

A three-putt bogey at the reachable par-5 15th, however, cooled his momentum somewhat, but he bounced back admirably with a chip-in birdie on the par-4 16th to get back to 16-under.

“That chip-in got me re-focused and past the bogey on 15,” he said. “The last two holes aren’t easy out there, so I’m glad I was able to get back in the game with that birdie.”

Pars on 17 and 18 gave Maness a third-round 67, a 16-under 199 total, and a spot atop the event’s 54-hole leaderboard, tied with Taylor.

For professional golfers, generally speaking, going into the working world and away from the tournament world signals the end of what was likely a long-time dream. Rare is the player that steps away from the play-for-pay world of golf out into the real world, gives it a go, and steps right back in.

Then there’s Michael Maness.

Michael Maness & Bill Haas

One of the country’s top-ranked junior players in the late 1990s, Maness finished up his college career at USC nearly 10 years ago and immediately gave the pro ranks a try. He played some in South America, some on the eGolf Tour, and at times, anywhere they were willing to pay.

In between starts, while trying to make ends meet, he worked at Black Bear Golf Club in Longs, SC. His “real job” experience would come in early 2009, when upcoming PGA TOUR star Bill Haas called his childhood friend to see if he wanted to pick up a few weeks of caddying.

“I withdrew from an eGolf event to go caddie for Bill, not really knowing what I was getting myself into,” he said. “Two weeks quickly turned into two and a half years I guess.”

With one of the better loops on the PGA TOUR, Maness went along for the ride as Haas ascended to the stature that his father held for so many years on golf’s grandest stage. Maness’ golf game was put on the back burner, outside of the occasional off week.

“I’d play at home in Greenville if some guys were there, maybe play with some buddies if there was a game,” said Maness, who would play with eGolf Tour winner Brent Delahoussaye if he was in town. “I didn’t really practice much though. I more or less played just to play.”

At the start of the 2011 season, during weeks away from the PGA TOUR, Maness began to start practicing again and getting an itch for the game he once loved and aspired to master. The itch, as they say, never goes away.

At that point, fate stepped in – albeit a cruel twist on fate.

Prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s lucrative FedExCup playoffs, Haas parted ways with Maness, opting instead to put brother Jay on the bag for the TOUR’s postseason series.

You probably know the rest of that story.

While Bill Haas was off winning the FedExCup, Maness was bouncing around a few loops on TOUR. First to Chris Kirk, then to Blake Adams – who, ironically, won this very same Columbia Open title in the fall of 2008.

“I had an opportunity to caddie for Blake, but I knew I wanted to play,” Maness said. “I was fortunate to be able to put some money away as a caddie, so I felt I could give it another go. I always had dreams of playing again.”

Maness joined the eGolf Tour for the year, but made just two cuts in his first seven starts back in the pro ranks. Slowly but surely, he took bits and pieces of knowledge from his days on the bag, and applied them to his own game.

That knowledge is rapidly paying off this week in Columbia.

“I learned a lot out there, just from being around so many great players,” he said. “How they handle themselves and plot their way around a course. They make shooting 5- or 6-under look so easy, and a lot of that has to do with how they piece their round together. It’s definitely made me a better player.”

With 18 holes to go on Saturday, Maness is on the precipice of transforming his career from player to caddie to winner.

When asked about the last time he sat on the lead or tied for the lead heading into the final round of any event, Maness chuckled.

“It’s been a long time. I honestly couldn’t even tell you,” he said. “Let me think. Yeah, I have no idea when that would have been. All I know is that I’ve been able to make some putts when I needed to this week, so if I can keep that going, who knows?”

Nick Taylor

For Nick Taylor, the week has been a study in consistency as the British Columbia native has held at least a share of the lead at the conclusion of each round.

A first-round 64 at Columbia C.C. on Wednesday gave the former University of Washington star the outright lead on day one, while a second-round 65 at Cobblestone Park on Thursday kept him tied for the lead alongside Fields at 14-under.

On day three, Taylor posted three birdies and a bogey on his outward nine to reach 2-under on the day and 16-under overall – still trailing a red-hot Fields by two. On the closing nine, Taylor took advantage of a late stumble by Fields with birdies at 13 and 15 to grab sole possession of the lead at 17-under, but fell victim to a late bogey at the arduous par-3 17th to fall back to 16-under – where he finished shortly thereafter following a par at the last. The third-round 70 kept Taylor in a tie for the lead with Maness, and one round away from possibly getting his first eGolf Tour win in just his third career start.

A Saturday win would arguably be the biggest of Taylor’s professional career, which followed one of golf’s top amateur careers in the latter part of the decade.

A three-time “All America” selection as a Husky standout, Taylor won the 2007 Canadian Amateur, was runner-up at the 2008 NCAA Championship, finished T36 at the 2009 U.S. Open, and was runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Public Links Championship. His stellar play gave way to the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top amateur in 2009, as well as the Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top college player in 2010.

Needless to say, Taylor’s pedigree suggests that a final-round win would surprise no one.

In solo-third place at 15-under 200, one shot behind Maness and Taylor, is Josh Brock of Wilmington, NC.

Josh Brock

Brock, a former UNC Wilmington standout, had struggled for much of 2012 before breaking through with a dramatic win three weeks ago at the tour’s Championship at St. James Plantation – played just 30 minutes down the road from his native Wilmington.

That win, plus the experience Brock earned by competing in last week’s South Georgia Classic on the Nationwide Tour (courtesy of a tour exemption earned via his win), likely led to the confidence Brock is playing with this week.

After using three eagles over 36 holes to post opening rounds of 68-66—134, Brock began his third round with a bogey at the par-4 second to quickly fall to 1-over on his day. From there, however, the former Seahawk star birdied four of his next five holes to move to 3-under, where he turned at 33. On the back nine, Brock again overcame an early bogey – this time at the par-4 10th – with four birdies in a five-hole stretch to move to 6-under on the day. A bogey-birdie finish on 17 and 18 gave Brock a 6-under 66 and his 15-under total.

Brock’s 66 tied Brandon Detweiler for the day’s low round. It also marked his ninth round under par in his last 10 played on the eGolf Tour this year – dating back to his win at St. James.

Jack Fields of Southern Pines, NC and Drew Weaver of High Point, NC are tied for fourth at 14-under 201.

Fields, who took the tournament by storm with a bogey-free 62 on Thursday at Cobblestone Park, entered Friday’s round in a tie for the lead with Taylor. Early on, it looked as though the former University of North Carolina golfer would try and run away from the field. Birdies on his first three holes coupled with a birdie at the par-5 seventh to take Fields to 18-under par and two clear of the field.

On the back nine, however, Fields stumbled with four consecutive bogeys from Nos. 14 through 17 to drop back down to 14-under with a third-round 72.

The final round of the Columbia Open presented by Groucho’s Deli will begin at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of No. 1 tee. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.