TRYALL, Hanover — American Patrick Cover will take a one-shot lead into today’s third and final day of the 52nd Alacran Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) Open at Tryall Club in Sandy Bay, Hanover, after shooting a four under par 68 in yesterday’s second round for a two-round seven under par 137.

After two enthralling and competitive days of golf on a course that challenged the players, especially on the final three holes of the newly refurbished course, today’s final day is expected to be exciting and could come down to the wire.

American David Morland IV, one of the final players to enter the event and who completed his first round early yesterday morning, was a shot back in second place on six under 138 with first-round leader Canadian Thomas DeMarco two shots further back on four under par 140 in third place, and American Michael Maguire, who had a low round five under par 67 yesterday, and Marty Sanchez tied on three under par 141.

Jamaica’s Wesley Brown, who was playing despite suffering from the flu, struggled at the end for the second-straight day, throwing away a good position but was still in the top 10 after two rounds.

Cover, who shared the first-round lead with Morland IV and DeMarco on three under par 69, was on fire on the front nine, carding five birdies and an eagle, the latter on the par five third hole.

He ran into trouble on the back nine with two bogeys in the first three holes on the 10th and 12th, both par threes to drop to five under par, got a shot back when he birdied the par four 16th hole.

He would, however, shoot a double bogey six on the 18th hole, just managing to keep his lead that was four shots at one time.

“Today was not as breezy as yesterday,” he told the media afterwards. “I was playing three clubs to atone for the high winds on Thursday but today I needed just one or two clubs.”

Cover added: “I played really well but had a bad finish on the last hole. I played really, really well on the front nine, shot seven under 30 and had it all going well before I got some hiccups on the back nine, but still in a good position for the rest of the tournament.”

Moreland, who was two under par when play was suspended on Thursday for bad light, dropped another shot early yesterday morning when he completed his round, had one blemish on his card, a double bogey on the par three fourth hole but played steady with five birdies for back-to-back three under par 69 scores.

“It has been a long time since I have played here and when I heard they were having it I made every effort to get here,” he said. And after failing to get into Wednesday’s practice round, he said: “I played blind on Thursday and it’s a pretty hard golf course so I was quite pleased with getting it around in three under and now that I kind of got my feet wet and know where to hit it we will see what happens (Saturday).”

When asked what his plans were for the last day, he said, “Shoot as low as I can and hopefully it’s one lower than every body else.”

DeMarco did not have his best day on the course, as after his 69 on the first day, he shot a one under par 71 and said, “It was okay. I ended up with a 71 but had a bad finish with six on the last hole and will need a lot better score on Saturday.”

Despite yet another poor finish, Jamaica’s Brown had a better day than Thursday with a one under par 71 after his even par 72 in the first round. “It was much easier than yesterday. I was three under at the 13th hole, got a little tight and dropped a few shots but pleased to have a birdie at the 18th hole to finish one under and I am in a good position for Saturday, so hopefully I can go very deep.”

Defending champion Hernan Borja also had a better day yesterday with a two under par 70 for a one under par 143, tied for eighth place.