Golf: Sizzling front nine by Jones Jr. sets up three-way tie for first place

Mark Jones Jr. still feels a little rusty.

He hasn’t played much this season. Taking a little time off to work out and add a little weight to his long, lanky frame, Jones Jr. is playing in his first individual tournament of the season.

But Jones Jr. played like a golfer at the top of his game for nine holes during Saturday’s second round of the Men’s City Championship at Ratliff Ranch Golf Links. Tied for sixth at 2-under-par after the first day, Jones Jr. blew through Ratliff’s front nine in a 5-under 31 that catapulted him up the leaderboard and into a three-way tie for first with defending champion Johnny Kidd and True Graves at 7-under heading into today’s final round.

“I birdied the par-5s, which is expected, and I actually had some putts go in (Saturday),” Jones Jr. said. “I bogeyed No. 6, so it could’ve been 30. I felt like a different person on the back.”

The back nine at Ratliff Ranch always plays tougher than the front, and Jones Jr. lost some of his birdie rhythm after his group made the turn and headed to the back.

By the time he fought his way into the clubhouse with an even-par back nine that preserved the day’s best score at 5-under, Jones Jr. was sure he’d have more work to do.

“I figured somebody, one of the leaders, would shoot around what I shot,” Jones Jr. said. “But it’s a tough wind (Saturday); it’s a little different than we’re used to.”

Nine golfers in the championship flight — which was split into a championship flight, a presidents flight and a governors flight after Saturday’s round — broke par for the second day in a row, but none of the golfers ahead of Jones Jr. turned in the type of round that could have put some separation between the leader and the rest of the field.

Kidd followed up Friday’s 67 with a solid 70, and Graves moved up from a fourth-place tie into Saturday’s first-place logjam with a 4-under 68 by playing solid, mistake-free golf.

“In two days, I’ve only had three bogeys,” Graves said. “It really isn’t playing too easy out here, they had the pins in some difficult places, and you weren’t going to have a flat putt.”

Graves, Jones Jr. and Kidd — a group of Permian graduates who grew up playing the same courses together — have risen to the top of a deep field that has produced plenty of red ink on the scoreboard so far.

Nine players made the cut to stay in the championship flight. All nine have posted at least one round in the 60s so far.

“There’s a lot of young talent out here, a lot of guys who can rip it a long ways,” said Mickey Jones, the  Texas Golf Association president who helped bring the Texas Senior Amateur to Odessa last year. “It’s always been that way. I’ve been playing here for 50 years, I guess, and golf has always been big.”

Kidd, Graves and Jones Jr. will tee off last today in a battle for the city championship, but Tyler Barcena is lurking two strokes back after a 68 on Saturday, while both Kevin Williams and Zach Stokes are three strokes behind the leaders.

One big round from anybody in the top group could win the tournament.

“I’ve played golf with all these guys, especially the ones up around the leaderboard, and I know what it’s going to take,” Barcena said. “You just have to go out there and see what you can make happen.”