Aiken, SC – Jonathan Fricke of Covington, GA and Seung-su Han of Tustin, CA are tied atop the leaderboard at the eGolf Tour’s inaugural Scratch Golf Championship at 13-under 203 through three rounds of the 72-hole event. With Saturday’s final round left to play, both players will do their best to combat a projected heat index of 110 degrees with the hopes of collecting the tournament’s $26,000 first-place prize.

The Scratch Golf Championship is the 12^th event of the 2011 eGolf Tour season and is being contested this week at the Rees Jones course at Woodside Plantation Country Club in Aiken, SC.

Entering Friday’s third round in sweltering heat and humidity, all eyes were on 36-hole leader and longtime eGolf Tour player Paul Brown, who opened with rounds of 68-66—134 to grab a one-shot lead at the tournament’s halfway point. On a day defined by birdies and players making moves, Brown’s 74 quickly took him out of the picture.

Entering the picture were Fricke and Han, who combined for 15 birdies on the day to move from the pack to the top of the leaderboard.

Fricke, a veritable staple on the eGolf Tour since 2006, posted three birdies and a bogey on his outward nine to turn at 2-under 34 in the third round. On the closing nine of the Rees Jones-designed course, the former Georgia State golfer came alive with birdies on 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 to move to 7-under on the day and in sole possession of the lead. A bogey at the last, however, would somewhat cool his charge and give the easy-going Southerner a round of 66 and a spot alongside Han at the top of the leaderboard.

“I made a good up and down on 11 for birdie. Then made a real good putt on 12, and that kind of got me going,” said Fricke. “I was leaving it below the hole for that entire stretch, which is key on greens these fast.”

For the 29-year-old Fricke, a second win on the eGolf Tour has been a long time in the works. After winning the tour’s Stonebridge Classic in September of 2007, Fricke earned status for the 2008 Nationwide Tour, where he played well enough to earn conditional status for 2009 as well.

During that rookie year in 2008, Fricke made just 7 of 28 cuts, but nearly captured a win at the Xerox Classic in August. Rounds of 69-69-63 left Fricke staring down the barrel of a life-changing win, but a final-round 73 gave him a share of third place instead.

The $31,200 payday that came with the T3 finish helped Fricke earn his status for 2009, but that follow-up season proved to be less fruitful with just one made cut in nine starts. Since then, he has bounced between eGolf Tour starts and Monday qualifiers, all with the hopes of getting back into the winner’s circle and back onto golf’s higher ground. It has been a span of 30 starts on the eGolf Tour since that win in 2007, but Fricke might be poised to break through yet again in Saturday’s final round.

“There is no validation or anything like that,” said Fricke of a possible Saturday win. “It’s just good to see some swing changes paying off for me. I’ve been working hard, so it seems like every round and every week has gotten a little easier. I’m just trying to get a little better with each round.”

Three top-10 finishes in 2011 alone, including two in his last three starts, have Fricke playing some of the more consistent golf of his career. Arguably one of the tour’s hardest workers, Fricke is the first to realize that the game of golf is not a sprint, and that all you can hope for is to keep improving. Do that, he says, and you’re always on the right path.

“It’s all just a process, that’s the coolest thing about it. There isn’t a band aid that you can put on your golf game each week, you just keep working at it and look for the changes to take hold long term,” he said. “I still love every minute of it.”

Han, making his second career start on the eGolf Tour this week, posted seven birdies against zero bogeys on Friday en route to a third-round 65. The day three charge moved the native South Korean from a tie for 14^th and into a tie for he lead.

As a junior, Han was a veritable prodigy. The 2002 AJGA “Player of the Year,” Han broke California state junior golf records held by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson when he won five state titles in 2002 alone. At NCAA powerhouse UNLV, Han’s star continued to rise after being named an “All Mountain West Conference” selection three times.

After turning professional, Han earned his Nationwide Tour card for the 2009 season, playing in 24 events on the year and picking up a career-best T18 finish at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup in June of that year.

Han’s 65 tied local favorite Stephen Poole Jr. for low round of the day. Poole, an Aiken resident by way of Spartanburg, SC, carded an eagle, six birdies and one bogey to move up to 8-under on the week.

At 12-under 204 and tied for third are Ryan Nelson of Dickinson, TX and Clint Jensen of Jupiter, FL.

Nelson, a former Portland State golfer, has posted rounds of 68-69-67 this week with hopes of picking up his first tour title in his rookie campaign on tour. Nelson has carded 16 birdies and an eagle through three rounds, with all under-par holes coming between Nos. 4 and 14. Nelson has not made a single birdie all week on Nos. 1-3 or Nos. 15-18, the latter serving as a possible crucial stretch for Saturday’s final round.

A participant in this year’s U.S. Open, Nelson has recorded three top-5 finishes on the year, including one each in his last two starts at the Cowans Ford Open and the Southern Open.

For Jensen, a third-round 67 with birdies on five of his last eight holes is simply more of the same for the two-time eGolf Tour winner. At 36, Jensen is arguably playing the best golf of his career right now with three top-5 finishes in his last four starts, including two runner-up efforts at the Bolle Classic in June and last week’s Southern Open. Since the Columbia Open in mid-April, Jensen has posted just one round above par in 23 rounds played on the eGolf Tour – a 1-over 72 in the second round of the Donald Ross Championship in May.

Final-round play in the Scratch Golf Championship will begin at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning at Woodside Plantation. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.