ROSE HALL, St James — American Hernan Borja blitzed his way to a course record nine under par 63 on yesterday’s second and penultimate round of the 51st Jamaica Golf Association Open at the Half Moon Course, in Rose Hall for a 10 under par 134 over 36 holes and a three-shot lead going into today final round.

Americans occupied the top five places on the leaderboard after yesterday’s round that was played in better conditions than Thursday as the course continued to dry out.

Tarik Can is three shots back on a two-round score of seven under par 137, Michael Maguire, who shot six under par yesterday, is on five under par 139 followed by Brad Adamonis and Jordan Gumberg both on four under par 140.

Ian Facey, who shared the lead after Thursday’s first round, is the best placed Jamaican in the professional section in joint 26th place after a four over par 76 yesterday for a two-day two over par 146 with Delroy McDonald a shot back at three over.

Jamaican Sean Morris and Justin Borrowes are the top amateurs. Morris equalled his first day two over 74 for a two-day total of four over 148, while Borrowes also shot 74 yesterday for a total of five over 149.

Meanwhile, there will be an eye on the weather on today’s final day after the conditions deteriorated after yesterday’s round with a quick shower of rain.

More rain is forecast for today and the organisers have scheduled players to compete in groups of four. Borja, Can, Maguire and Adamonis will start at 9:20 am from the number one tee.

Yesterday, the 32-year-old Borja, who plies his trade on the PGA LatinoAmerica tour, beat the record of seven under 65 set by Russ Cochran in 2012 by two shots and also beat his previous best 64 set in the third round of the BMW Jamaica Classic held at the Cinnamon Hill course in June this year.

The Las Vegas, Nevada native, who had a one under par 71 on Thursday’s first round, had nine birdies in his round, four on the front nine and five on the back, finishing in spectacular fashion with four straight on the last four holes, playing into the winds that have been the bane of just about every other of the over 100 players in the event.

Borja, who is chasing his biggest pay-day in his ninth year as a professional, said it was his carefree approach to the round that resulted in his spectacular performance.

“I didn’t try to guide anything out there today,” he told reporters. “I just hit it, went and found the ball and hit it again. Luckily I made some really good puts out there and had some close shots, and at the end of the day it was 63.”

He said he has no plans to change anything today. “I am going to stick with exactly what I did (Friday) just keep swinging free mentally, don’t try to guide anything out there, just let it rip, find the ball and keep going, and we will see what happens at the end of the day.”

Borja almost magically avoided any dropped shots that affected the other leaders as he birdied the first two holes in his round to get off to a fast start. He had two more under par scores at the seventh and ninth, the latter where he had a double bogey on Thursday for a four under par front nine.

If he was good on the front nine he was spectacular on the back nine, playing into a strong wind that has killed the dreams of many over the years, birdying the 12th, and was supreme over the last four holes with four straight birdies, playing the back nine in five under 31.

Thirty-year-old Can, who was encouraged by his Jamaican girlfriend to play the event, and who had to buy clothes at the pro shop on Thursday’s first day after his luggage did not arrive in time, also had what he described as “a great day of golf”.

After a spectacular birdie on the par five first hole, playing out of the sand trap from about 25 yards, he put together a solid round that had five more birdies and a bogey.

The veteran Maguire, who has played the Jamaica Open several times, shot an eagle three on the par five eighth hole, but dropped a shot on the par three 17th hole in his six under par 66.