Southport, N.C. – No player wants to be tabbed with the moniker of “best mini-tour player in the country,” as no player ideally wants to remain in the developmental golf ranks for more than a year.

T.J. Howe of Osceola, Pa. is making a strong case that he is in fact that guy.

The five-time eGolf Gateway Tour winner, just two weeks removed from claiming the tour’s Nova Tax Group Open, birdied his final three holes on Friday afternoon at the Championship at St. James Plantation to post a 3-under 69, good for a 9-under-par total and a two-shot lead heading into Saturday’s fourth and final round of the sixth-year event.

Howe’s week on the demanding Reserve Club course at St. James Plantation began in sluggish fashion with a Wednesday 73, but went into proverbial game mode on Thursday with a 7-under 65 (the week’s low round) to jump to 6-under through 36 holes and into Friday’s final threesome.

Playing alongside overnight leader Thomas Bass of nearby Wilmington, N.C. and Ryan Nelson of Charleston, S.C., Howe did little to inspire a third-round charge early on, double-bogeying the par-5 third to fall from an early tie for the lead down to 4-under on the week.

T.J. Howe

“I pushed my drive into the hazard and tried to punch it out, and then it wedged between two branches,” he said. “After that, I pretty much made what was a normal par.”

Howe’s hiccup was erased soon thereafter, as a birdie on the par-4 fourth moved him back to 1-over on the day, while a birdie on the par-3 sixth – his third of the week on that hole – took him to even par and back in the mix at 6-under overall.

“I felt like I let my guard down a little bit there, but I was able to bounce back on the next hole, which is really important out here, especially over the last two rounds,” Howe said.

The former Penn State standout bogeyed the par-4 eighth to turn in 1-over 37, but more than made up for it on the back nine with a torrid stretch of closing golf.

Birdies on 11 and 13 briefly gave him a share of the lead at 7-under before a wayward tee shot on 14 – which required the use of string to determine if it was in-bounds or not – gave way a bogey on an otherwise docile hole.

Over the final three holes, however, Howe shined.

On the par-3 16th, the 27-year-old holed a bunker shot to jump back into a tie for the lead at 7-under par for the tournament.

“The ball was sitting perfectly on the upslope, just 20 feet away. I was thinking that if I could land it just short of the green, it would be close, and then it went in,” he said. “I looked at Ryan and said, ‘That’s the first bunker shot I’ve holed in seven years.’ It was bound to happen sometime, I’m just glad it happened today.”

Howe chipped up to 6 feet on the par-5 17th and converted the short putt for another birdie before coming to the par-4 finishing hole, where a safe approach shot to 20 feet led to the third red figure of a closing trifecta of birdies that left him with a 3-under 69 and the tournament lead at 9-under 207.

Ryan Nelson

“I was pretty fortunate that the putt on 18 went in,” he said. “That thing may have been a few feet past if it didn’t hit the hole.”

Howe has been without doubt one of the top players in the country since bursting onto the scene in 2013 with a three-win campaign.

The Charlotte, N.C. resident backed up that “hello world” season with a win last year at the Mimosa Hills Open, where a third-round 61 that threatened golf’s magical 59 delivered career victory No. 4.

The 61 was one of two carded by Howe last year, as a third-round 61 at the Sapona Ridge Classic in August put forth a T3 finish to further continue a solid summer of golf.

In 2015, he has played the best golf of his life. Back-to-back top-10s in the tour’s west coast series in Arizona, including a T2 at Trilogy Golf Club, morphed into solid play on the east coast with two top-10s in his last three starts entering the week at St. James – including career win No. 5 at the Nova Tax Group Open two weeks ago.

“This is easily the best golf I’ve played consecutively. The 65 I had yesterday was really good,

and I’m starting to feel more comfortable with trying to get there,” said Howe. “But, my misses are becoming more narrow, and my good shots are giving me looks that, for the past three years, I made a lot less than I am now.”

A hot putter has aided Howe during this dominant stretch of golf, but even more than that, his hunger for winning has further saturated a boat-load of talent that has most everyone on the eGolf Gateway Tour taking notice.

The Nova Tax Group Open win was likely Howe’s most impressive, with a third-round 63 turning into a six-shot runaway performance during the final round.

Beware the golfer who feels good about his game.

T.J. Howe feels very good about his.

“I’ve won before, but I’ve never had it feel like this. I don’t know if it’s how I won last time, but I feel like I should be there every week. That’s the first time I’ve had that feeling, and I’m enjoying it obviously, so I’m going to try and keep it rolling.”

Nelson and Drew Weaver of High Point, N.C. are tied for second, two shots back of Howe at 7-under 209.

Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion, birdied Nos. 7, 9 and 12 to take the outright lead at 8-under par on Friday afternoon, but bogeyed 15 to drop back down to 7-under par, where he finished with a third-round 70.

The four-time tour winner has been on point thus far in 2015, posting a T3 at Palmetto Hall and losing the Mid Pines Classic in a playoff the following week.

Drew Weaver

Weaver made waves in 2012 within the developmental tour ranks, winning twice during a seven-tournament stretch that also featured four runner-up finishes. By year’s end, the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team member earned the money title with $121,737 – the third-highest single-season tally in tour history.

Nelson, the tour’s 2014 leading money winner, turned in 1-under 35 to move to 7-under, then birdied 12 to tie Weaver at 8-under par before bogeying two of his final six holes (around a birdie on 17) for a 1-under 71.

Nelson is coming off a career year on the eGolf Gateway Tour, where a win at the season-ending Tour Championship and two additional runner-up finishes netted $112,851 in earnings.

The 36-year-old is making his fifth career start at St. James, having posted three top-25s in four prior starts entering the week – including a solo-third-place finish in his debut in 2011. That week, Nelson was tied for the lead with nine holes to play, but closed with a 2-over 38 to fall two shots shy of winner and current PGA TOUR member Jason Kokrak.

Former PGA TOUR member Nate Smith of Daniel Island, S.C. is in solo-fourth place, three shots back of Howe at 6-under 210.

Final-round play in The Championship at St. James Plantation will begin at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.