Peter Uihlein takes outright 54-hole lead at Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS

BROUSSARD, Louisiana – For a second consecutive year, Peter Uihlein enters the final round of the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS in position to win, as he took the outright 54-hole lead at 13-under par with a 4-under 67 Saturday afternoon at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club.

Uihlein, one of five 18-hole co-leaders earlier this week, carded six birdies and two bogeys in the penultimate group of the third round, taking a one-stroke lead over first-year member and PGA TOUR University Class of 2021 graduate Trevor Werbylo, as well as a three-stroke lead over a trio of players at 10-under par. This marks the third time Uihlein carries a lead into the final round of a Korn Ferry Tour event, and the first since last April’s 2021 MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute, where he earned his second career Korn Ferry Tour victory.

A native of New Bedford, Massachusetts and resident of Jupiter, Florida, Uihlein tallied three birdies and a bogey on each side Saturday. The birdies came at Nos. 2, 5, 8, 12, 13, and 15, while his bogeys came at the par-5 seventh and par-3 11th, meaning Uihlein played the final seven holes at 3-under par.

“It’s the third day in a row we have a different wind, so you feel like you’re playing a different golf course for three straight days,” Uihlein said. “I gave myself a lot of chances. I feel like I’ve been playing good, I just haven’t had the results to show it, or the scores. This is how I feel like I’ve been playing lately and it’s nice to see it pay off a little bit.”

Last year, Uihlein entered the final round of this event solo second, two strokes behind Roberto Díaz. Uihlein fell four strokes behind early in the round, but made two eagles and a chip-in birdie as part of a furious rally which pulled him even with Díaz after the par-4 14th. Uihlein three-putted No. 17 for bogey and drove into the penalty area and settled for par at No. 18, while Díaz parred in for the victory.

“It’s just a fun golf course,” Uihlein said of his success at Le Triomphe. “It’s not a golf course you’re going to go shoot 8-under, 9-under. It’s not target golf. You’ve got to be creative. When the wind blows and it’s bouncy, it’s tricky. There are some holes that we don’t even really try to hit the fairway on, we’re just trying to blast it to a section and give ourselves better angles.”

The runner-up finish, followed by a victory in Las Vegas roughly a month later and a T2 in August, propelled Uihlein to the precipice of a PGA TOUR card via the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List. Although Uihlein came up short and finished just outside The 25 (28th to be precise), he earned a TOUR card for the 2021-22 season via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

Nine of Uihlein’s 11 starts this season have come on the PGA TOUR. The Oklahoma State University alum has made four cuts, with his best finish being a T34 last October at the 2021 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. In his lone Korn Ferry Tour start prior to this week, Uihlein entered the final round of the LECOM Suncoast Classic in T6 position, but finished T17 after an even-par 71.

“I'm going to go and try to shoot the low round of the day tomorrow,” Uihlein said. “I think that's kind of the mentality you've got to have. I don't know what that's going to be, but I'll be able to see in the morning when I wake up. But my mindset's to try and shoot the low round of the day tomorrow.”

Final-round pairings will run from 7:20 a.m. through 1:20 p.m. local time off the first tee.