Hughes joins Stanford, Newsom in contention for Junior PGA Championship

Chase Hughes of Oklahoma City surged into contention with a third-round 68 as Oklahoma juniors occupied an astounding three of the top six spots in the Junior Boys PGA Championship at PGA Frisco.

Hughes moved up 21 spots and is now tied for fourth at 5-under with Jacob Newsom of Broken Arrow, who shot 73 Thursday. Ainslee Stanford III of Edmond had a chance to take the lead with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Fields Ranch, but made bogey instead and is tied for second at 6-under. The leader, Jaden Soong of Burbank, Calif., is 8-under.

Hughes, Newsom and Stanford will all have a chance to win the prestigious title with a good round Friday. The field for the boys and girls was cut to low 30 and ties for the final round.

Complete results and live scoring is here.

In the girls division, Lisa Herman of Jenks moved up 14 spots into a tie for 13th with a third-round 1-under 71 and is now 1-under for the tournament (69-75-71).

Should an Oklahoman win, it would be the fourth time overall and first since Brad Dalke of Hobart in 2015. Phillip Bryan of Mustang won in 2003 and Tracy Phillips of Tulsa prevailed in the tournament’s second year in 1980. Tim Fleming of Oklahoma City was runner up in 1982 and E.J. Pfister of Edmond took second in 1983.