ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida – Vince India recorded the second top-10 of his Korn Ferry Tour career with a T10 effort at last week’s Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass. This week, just 45 minutes down the road, the Chicago native is looking to add the first victory of his career, opening the King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village with rounds of 63-66 and a course-record 62 to take a commanding four-shot lead into Saturday’s final round.

India entered Friday’s third round tied atop the leaderboard with Australia’s Brett Coletta, as the two matched 36-hole totals of 15-under 129, thanks in part to perfect scoring conditions on the King & Bear Course.

Through four holes on his round, India was a modest 1-under par for the day before going on a tear to close out the opening nine. Starting with the par-5 fifth, the former University of Iowa golfer finished in eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie to turn in 7-under 29 on the day and 22-under for the week.

After converting a 10-footer for par on the par-4 10th, the 31-year-old overcame a bogey on 12 with birdies on 13 and 14 and a follow-up birdie on 16, thanks to a 40-foot putt made from across the green.

On the par-5 18th, India hit a 4-iron from 217 yards to 6 feet, and calmly two-putted for a career-best 10-under 62, matching the new course record set 20 minutes prior by Austin Smotherman.

“I just tried to stick to my plan – fairways, greens; there are a lot of opportunities and you’re going to have a bunch of wedges out here, and I feel like I’ve got those pretty dialed in at the moment,” he said. “I just tried to put one foot in front of the other out there and it added up to a 62.”

India’s trip to the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour has had its share of ups and downs, most notably a 72nd-hole double-bogey at the 2019 WinCo Foods Portland Open which left him on the outside of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and put him straight into the belly of the Qualifying Tournament as the best option to improve his status for the following season.

“It was certainly inspiring,” said India, reflecting on the week in Portland. “I played really well that week and had a lot of things go my way and then things just didn’t go my way on the 18th hole, which is fine. I had two really hard shots in a row from the greenside. I thought I hit decent ones on both, and they just ended up in a goofy spot. That’s just the nature of this stupid game.”

At Q-School host Orange County National Golf Club, India recorded a staggering five eagles over 72 holes en route to a T30 finish, which secured his spot in the first eight events of the 2020 season.

With just three made cuts in six starts prior to the Tour’s suspension of play due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India was still in search of a spark when he notched his T10 finish at the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass last week.

That spark has more than carried over to this week, and India is now on the precipice of a career-changing win, and possibly, a PGA TOUR card further down the line.

“There’s such a fine line between this Tour and the PGA TOUR. Not a lot of people really know. They see the PGA TOUR a lot more on television and we get a couple of events here and there, and not a whole lot of spectators,” he said. “But there are so many guys who can instantly gel with the PGA TOUR fellas and win majors right away. The talent out here is supreme and it’s definitely the second-best Tour in the world.”

Four-time PGA TOUR winner Chris Kirk sits alone in second place at 21-under following rounds of 66-65-64. The former University of Georgia standout is making his first Korn Ferry Tour start since 2010, where he won twice and added two runner-up finishes to secure a second-place finish on the money list and his first TOUR card.

Kirk’s four PGA TOUR titles include the 2011 Sanderson Farms Championship; 2013 RSM Classic; 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship; 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge. He reached a career-best 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking two weeks after the Charles Schwab Challenge victory.

“If I go play a good round tomorrow, I’ll be happy no matter what the outcome is,” said Kirk, 34. “Obviously I’d love to get a win, that’s going to be my goal, to go make as many birdies as I can and make a run at it. I just want to go play some good golf, hit some good shots and roll in a few putts. It’s that simple.”

Saturday’s final round will run from 7:50 a.m. to 10 a.m. off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees.