High Point, NC – With just one round to go in the eGolf Tour’s third annual Willow Creek Open, a final-round showdown is being set, as co-leaders Adam Mitchell of Atlanta, GA and Seamus Power of Ireland share the lead at 11-under 133 heading into Friday’s final round, with 18 players within four shots. Mitchell, a former amateur star, sits on the precipice of finally making good on his vast potential.

The Willow Creek Open is the 10th of 24 scheduled events on the 2013 eGolf Tour schedule, and is being contested this week at Willow Creek Country Club in High Point, NC.

Mitchell’s week has been a study in consistency, with 11 birdies and 25 pars through 36 holes of play, leading to rounds of 66-67—133 for his 11-under total.

After finishing his opening round with three consecutive birdies for a 6-under 66, Mitchell picked up right where he left off on day two, carding five birdies for a second-round 67 – including two of his last three holes, Nos. 7 and 9 (his 16th and 18th).

“I got off to a terrible start putting, but started laughing and told myself not to get too upset,” said Mitchell, 26. “Watching the basketball last night, I was reminded that Kobe (Bryant) might get off to a bad start, but he just continues to shoot his way through it, so that’s what I did. I was happy to finish strong again and pull it out down the stretch.”

The 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team member has been competing on the eGolf Tour full-time since 2010, notching six top-5 finishes along the way. The former University of Georgia star has four top-20 finishes thus far in 2013, including a season-best T5 effort at the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship.

“I’ve been knocking at the door, and knocking at the door, and trying to do the things it takes to win,” he said. “Winning just happens. All you can do is play the best you can, and hit the best shot you can at that time. You can’t do much more after that.”

Seamus Power

Entering the week with seven tournaments under his belt, the uber-talented Mitchell had been scratching his opening-round head, having posted just one score under par in the first round of any eGolf Tour event on the year (67, Championship at Ballantyne Country Club).

“I think I put too much pressure on myself because I’ve been playing better after doing a lot of work in the offseason,” he said. “In turn, I kind of shoot myself in the foot from the get-go, then get to free it up a bit because I don’t have to worry about being in the hunt or anything.”

Mitchell, a Chattanooga, TN native, received an exemption into the Web.com Tour’s South Georgia Classic in April, carding rounds of 69-73-74-67—283 en route to a career-best T15 finish.

“I really didn’t play the way I wanted to that week, and still finished tied for 15th – again, I put a bit too much pressure on myself to perform,” said Mitchell, who earned a spot in the following week’s Stadion Classic at UGA with his T15. “It’s all a learning process. I learned so much in those two weeks out there, and it’s always good to take something from each round. Whatever it takes to learn what works for you.”

The overnight lead is the first for Mitchell since he entered the final round of last year’s Spring Creek Classic – ironically – tied atop the leaderboard with Power. A final-round 75, where he played his final three holes in 5-over par, led to a T6 finish for the former Bulldog standout.

Power, a two-time winner on the eGolf Tour last year, opened his week with a 4-under 68 that put him well with striking distance entering the second round. The former East Tennessee State standout opened day two in torrid fashion, posting an eagle and three birdies on Nos. 10 through 18 to turn at 5-under 31.

The eagle, which came at the watery par-5 17th, marked the second consecutive day that the West Waterford (IR) native eagled what will be Friday’s penultimate hole.

On his closing nine (the club’s front), Power played steady golf, posting birdies on both par-5s (Nos. 4 and 7) to close with a 2-under 34, matching the day’s low round with a 7-under 65.

In 2012, Power earned career-best numbers, picking up wins at the River Run Classic in March and the Spring Creek Classic in June. Those wins coupled with two additional top-3 finishes to place him at No. 7 on the season-ending money list with just under $60,000 in earnings.

Power’s Spring Creek win was the polar opposite to Mitchell’s Spring Creek collapse, as seven birdies over his last 11 holes turned into a final-round 66 and a five-shot win over leading money winner Drew Weaver.

Cam Burke

Cam Burke of Ontario, Canada, Mitch Krywulycz of Australia and Jonathan Fricke of Covington, GA are tied for third at 10-under 134, just one shot off the overnight co-lead.

Burke, far and away one of the tour’s most consistent performers this year, bounced back from a bogey-bogey finish on Wednesday (67) to post six birdies on Thursday for yet another 5-under 67 that pushed him to 10-under for the week.

The two-time Canadian Amateur champion has had a breakthrough 2013 campaign, winning the Founders Club Classic in April for his first tour title, and adding two additional top-10s to sit at No. 2 on the tour’s money list with $34,665 in earnings.

A former Eastern Michigan University star, Burke – who was paired with Mitchell on Wednesday and Thursday – had made 9-of-9 cuts on the year, posting a top-25 finish in each start. He finished T25 at the tournament’s 2012 edition.

Krywulycz, who played alongside Power over the first two days, matched Burke’s effort through 36 holes with rounds of 67-67 as well.

A key member of Augusta State’s back-to-back NCAA Championship teams, Krywulycz entered the week in High Point on the heels of a season-best T7 effort at last week’s Palisades Classic. On Thursday, the former Jaguar standout reached 4-under par for the day with birdies at Nos. 2 and 3 (his 11th and 12th), before carding his first bogey of the round at the narrow par-4 fifth. A late rally featuring birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 pushed him to 5-under for the day, where he finished for his day two 67.

Fricke, the tournament’s 18-hole leader following an 8-under 64 on Wednesday, entered day two with a one-shot cushion over Chip Lynn of Lillington, NC. The former Web.com Tour member was looking for a third career eGolf Tour title, having notched win No. 2 at the Forest Oaks Open last November.

After turning at 1-under 35, Fricke reached 2-under for the day with a birdie at the par-5 fourth (his 13th). That birdie moved him to 10-under par for the week – a number which dipped further into the red when the former Georgia State star birdied the next two holes to move into the lead at 12-under par.

At the par-4 ninth, Fricke suffered a crushing double-bogey that eliminated any shot he had of entering Friday’s final round with the lead, instead leaving him with a 2-under 70 on the day and at 10-under par for the week.

David Watkins of Greenville, NC and Andy Bare of West End, NC are tied for sixth at 9-under 135, two shots back of the co-leaders.

Andy Bare

Watkins, a former East Carolina University golfer, has played some of his best golf of the year thus far, posting 11 birdies and two bogeys over the first two days en route to rounds of 68-67—135.

Entering the week, the 23-year-old Rockingham, NC native had made just three starts on the year, posting a missed cut at the Championship at St. James, then following it up with back-to-back top-15 efforts at both the Forest Oaks Classic (T14) and the Columbia Open (T7).

Bare, a three-time eGolf Tour winner, is just one week removed from claiming win No. 3 at the Palisades Classic, where an up-and-down for bogey on the final hole gave him a 19-under tally and a one-shot win over Brien Davis of Oklahoma City, OK.

A two-year member of the Web.com Tour, Bare is now 28-under par over his last five rounds on the eGolf Tour – a stretch which includes a mind-boggling 30 birdies and two eagles.

The 36-hole cut fell at 3-under 141, with 53 players making it through to the final round of play. Friday’s third and final round will begin at 7:50 AM, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.