Huntersville, N.C. – Four-time eGolf Gateway Tour winner T.J. Howe of Osceola, Pa. twice posted rounds of 61 in 2014, with both career-best efforts coming in the third round of two separate events.

On Thursday during round three of the tour’s Nova Tax Group Open at NorthStone Country Club, the former Penn State star struck again, birdieing four of his final six holes for an 8-under 63 which marked the week’s low round by three shots, and put him three shots clear of the field at 12-under par with Friday’s final round on tap.

Howe’s week at the P.B. Dye design just north of Charlotte began with back-to-back 69s to sit at 4-under 138, three shots back of 36-hole leader Zach Edmondson heading into the third round.

On an overcast-yet-ideal day for scoring, Howe was just 1-under through five holes before closing out his opening nine with an eagle-bogey-birdie-birdie stretch to turn at 4-under 32 and 8-under overall.

“I’ve been able to give myself a lot of looks, especially today on the front,” said Howe. “My putter has been hot all week, and I’ve been able to see the lines real well, so some putts were able to fall in there.”

After surviving the brutal stretch of Nos. 10 through 12 in even par, the 27-year-old erupted down the closing nine with birdies on 13, 14 and 15 to jump into the outright lead at 11-under par.

“I hit a great tee shot on 13 just below the hole, then hit it to an inch on 14 before two-putting 15 for another birdie,” he said. “That was a good stretch for me.”

On the tough par-4 18th, Howe laced a 9-iron to 8 feet to set up one final birdie try, which he converted for an 8-under 63 and the 54-hole lead at 12-under 201.

“The courses have been tough this year, but I haven’t been hitting my tee ball well so I haven’t been able to move up the leaderboard,” he said. “But I got a lesson a few weeks ago that helped out, and when you couple that with a good putter, rounds like this can happen.”

Ethan Tracy

After a solid rookie season on tour in 2012, Howe’s “hello world” moment came in 2013, when he notched three wins during a breakout season that left him third on the season-ending money list.

If there was a downside to that magical year, it was that he only recorded two additional top-10s in 20 total starts, while missing eight cuts at the same time.

That lack of consistency vanished in 2014, where he recorded 12 top-25s in 18 starts, including career win No. 4 at the Mimosa Hills Open in June.

Howe’s Mimosa Hills win came courtesy of a third-round 61, where pars on 17 and 18 left him two shots shy of golf’s magical number. That was one of two 61s on the year, with a second coming two months later at the Sapona Ridge Classic en route to a T3 finish.

“I have no idea why I play well on moving day. It seems once the cut day is over, the third day seems more relaxing, while tomorrow is the real grinder,” he said. “I don’t think about the cut as much as I used to, but one bad day – especially on a course like this – can lead to a missed cut.”

With four wins in his last 23 months on tour, Howe has risen as arguably one of the best developmental tour players in the country. That notion continued earlier this year with a pair of top-10s on the tour’s west coast series, followed by back-to-back top-20s at the Palmetto Hall Championship and the Mid Pines Classic.

The diehard Nittany Lion fan, however, remains under the radar in the sport – perhaps because Penn State trailed the likes of noteworthy ACC and SEC schools in NCAA golf, or perhaps because most people would struggle to find Osceola, Pa. on a map without the use of GPS.

Either way, the Charlotte, N.C. resident seems just fine with where he stands, and knows that it’s often best to let your clubs represent you more than your reputation or resume.

“I hope I’m not under the radar when it comes to my peers. It’s hard to make a name for yourself on the mini-tours until you get out there,” he quipped. “And then they look back and say, ‘Oh, he might have been alright.’”

Brendan Kelly of Annapolis, Md. and Ethan Tracy of Columbus, Ohio are tied for second, three shots back of Howe at 9-under 204.

Kelly, who played alongside Howe during the third round, was the tournament’s outright leader after turning in 5-under 31 before reaching 10-under par overall with a birdie on the par-4 10th.

The former Villanova golfer bogeyed the 13th, birdied the 15th, but bogeyed the last to play his final eight holes in 1-over par, good for a 5-under 66 – the second-lowest round of the week behind Howe’s 63.

His 9-under-par effort represents a further continuation of solid play for Kelly, who opened his season with back-to-back top-20s, including a career-best T4 effort at the Mid Pines Classic two weeks ago.

At Mid Pines, the 26-year-old had a 10-foot birdie try on the 18th hole to join a three-man playoff, but watched it fall low and to the right to finish one shot out.

Tracy, who played in the day’s final threesome, was even par through four holes before birdies on Nos. 5, 7 and 8 put him at 8-under par on the turn.

The former Arkansas Razorback star eagled the 15th on his closing nine to move into solo-second at 10-under par, but bogeyed 17 to fall back to minus-9, where he finished the day after a 4-under 67.

Brendan Kelly

The 25-year-old earned over $66,000 on tour last year, thanks to wins at the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship and the River Hills Championship, with the latter netting a $32,000 payday thanks to the tour’s Million Dollar Championship Series.

Tracy made a name for himself in the amateur ranks via a win at the 2011 Western Amateur, where he defeated the likes of PGA TOUR winners Jordan Spieth and Derek Ernst, as well as famed amateur Patrick Cantlay, on his way to claiming the prestigious title.

Christian Brand of Charleston, W.V. is alone in fourth place following rounds of 70-69-66—205 (8-under) – just four shots back of Howe.

Final-round play in the Nova Tax Group Open will begin at 8:20 AM on Friday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.