WICHITA, Kansas – With a one-stroke lead entering the day, Norman Xiong carded a 6-under 64 Saturday to remain the solo leader through 54 holes of the Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics. Making his 24th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour this week, it marks the first-ever 54-hole lead for the 23-year-old.

Xiong climbed the leaderboard in the second round following a 9-under 61, which tied Crestview Country Club’s course record and marked a new career-low round. The University of Oregon alum followed it up with an eight-birdie performance in Saturday’s third round, bringing his weekly total to 19-under par, one stroke ahead of Kevin Yu in solo-second.

Starting the day with a flawless front nine, Xiong carded four pars and five birdies at Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9. His two bogeys came on the back at the 10th and 12th, sandwiched around another birdie at the par-4 11th. Xiong rolled in two more birdies at Nos. 13 and 17 to finish at 6-under on the day.

Xiong earned the start this week after Monday qualifying into the event with a 4-under at Auburn Hills Golf Course in Wichita. This week marks his second start of the Korn Ferry Tour season after he also Monday qualified for the LECOM Suncoast Classic in February, where he sat 4-under through two rounds but eventually missed the 36-hole cut by two strokes.

The last open qualifier to win on the Korn Ferry Tour was Rick Lamb at the 2016 LECOM Health Challenge. A win this week would make Xiong the 25th open qualifier to win, and earn him full membership on the Korn Ferry Tour for the remainder of the season.

Xiong turned professional in 2018 after two seasons on the collegiate level. In his time as an Oregon Duck, Xiong garnered multiple honors, including freshman player of the year honors in 2017, followed by the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards the following season. In his time as an amateur, he won the 2017 Western Am and was a member of the victorious 2017 Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams, where he played alongside multiple current PGA TOUR standouts, including Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns and Will Zalatoris.

Xiong’s professional career started with a runner-up finish at Final Stage of the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, earning him 12 guaranteed starts for the following season. In his rookie year, the San Diego, California native made 21 starts and recorded one top-25 finish, but struggled to maintain status due to 15 missed cuts.

Sitting a shot behind Xiong, 23-year-old Kevin Yu looks to have his second consecutive top-five finish in this tournament. In the 2021 Wichita Open, which was Yu’s second career start on the Korn Ferry Tour, Yu carded a career-low 61 in the third round and held the outright 54-hole lead by two strokes, but a 2-over 72 in the final round saw him finish T5.

Yu got off to a hot start Saturday with a birdie-eagle-eagle stretch on the first three holes. Four birdies on the back at Nos. 11 and 13-15 moved him to 9-under. The Arizona State alum nearly matched his career low from last year, but a bogey on the par-4 18th, his only bogey of the day, equated to an 8-under 62.

Last month at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, where Yu finished solo second, he held the outright 54-hole lead and drew back to his time in Wichita last year, admitting he was not comfortable at the time. Following today’s third round, Yu said he feels much better this go-round.

“All the guys out there cheering for me, it actually feels good and I feel comfortable about the situation,” Yu said. “You don't have to do something special out there, just one shot at a time and don't be too focused about the outcome and just focus at the moment. Just one shot at a time.”

Final-round pairings will run from 6:50 a.m. through 12:10 p.m. local time off the first tee.