Patrick Cover rides front-nine 28 to Saturday 63, leads by one at LECOM Suncoast Classic

Things to know

• Patrick Cover takes his first career 54-hole outright lead with an 8-under 63, bidding for his first career Korn Ferry Tour win and eighth first-time winner this year.
• Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club winner Steven Fisk trails by one stroke after a bogey-free 7-under 64.
• 36-hole leader Brandon Crick finishes his third round with a 1-over 72 to drop to 13-under for the tournament.
• Nine players trail by five strokes at T7, including 18-hole leader Mason Andersen and Bradenton, Florida, native Danny Walker.
• Billy Kennerly makes the first hole-in-one in the history of the LECOM Suncoast Classic on No. 15.
• Final round groupings will run from approximately 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. local time.

Third-round lead notes

• 2 — Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the LECOM Suncoast Classic: Mark Hubbard (2019), Hayden Buckley (2021)
• 2 — Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024: Jeremy Paul (The Bahamas Great Exumas Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay), Isaiah Salinda (The Panama Championship)

Patrick Cover (Leader/18-under)

• Eagled the 591-yard par-5 ninth for an 8-under 28 on the front; made birdie on Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 with the lone bogey coming on the par-4 fifth; posted an even-par 35 on his second nine with on birdie (No. 15) and one bogey (No. 12) for an 8-under 63
• Opened up the week on Thursday with a bogey-free 8-under 63; followed up with a second-round 2-under 69
• Bidding for first career Korn Ferry Tour Win (53rd start) and eighth first-time winner this season
• Making third career start at the LECOM Suncoast Classic; finished T16 in 2023; missed cut in 2022
• Earns first 54-hole lead/co-lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career and third lead/co-lead after any round
  • Was also the 18-hole co-leader at the 2023 LECOM Suncoast Classic (T16) and the outright 18-hole leader at the 2022 Live and Work in Main Open (finished T15)
• Previous best 54-hole position was T4 (twice: 2023 Compliance Solutions Championship, 2023 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS)
• In seven starts this season, has three made cuts with best finish being a T38 at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club
• Best career finish is a sixth at the 2023 NV5 Inviational presented by Old National Bank
• Last season, finished No. 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List to earn fully exempt status for the 2024 season (top 75 in points)
• Played four seasons at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (2014-18), winning three times individually and garnering three consecutive All-Colonial Athletic Association honors (2016-18) and helping the team win the 2018 CAA Championship
• Resides in Charlotte, North Carolina

Quotables

Cover on his 8-under 63…“Yeah, everything was going pretty well on the front. Put myself in the fairway a lot and it seemed that I was just leaving myself with not easy putts, but putts where I could get a really good read on it and I had a really good feeling standing over the ball knowing that it was going to go in. Yeah, just a really solid front nine. Back nine, a little bit more grinding. Had a couple of good par saves. Yeah, but overall, really happy with the score and really happy with how I kept it together on the back."

Cover on his strong play at Lakewood National Golf Club…“Yeah, I do like this golf course. This is my third year playing this tournament and I played this course a couple of times just for fun. I've been in the area and asked if I could come out and play it. So I know the course well. I really like how it lets you play your game. There's not many forced shots. There's no holes that tell you you have to hit a draw or you have to hit a fade, you can kind of hit your shot at a target and it gives you room on both sides. It's not the most demanding golf course off the tee, but it will penalize you for a big miss. I do, I really like the course and I really like the greens.”

Walker on waiting to see if he would make the cut… “Just trying to recognize that it's out of your control and there's nothing you can do about it at this point. Just kind of let it be what it's going to be. Thankfully, it worked out in my favor this time, but it's definitely a little nerve wracking, for sure. You really just want a chance to go play.”

Walker on his 8-under 63… “Honestly, it was a little bit of everything. Was hitting fairways, hitting good iron shots, rolled in a few more putts today. First two days I didn't really make any 15 footers, but today I rolled in a few. Stayed out of trouble. It was just a good, solid clean round throughout the bag.”

Notes

• Fisk (second/-17), who won last time out at the Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, is bidding to become the 17th player (and 18th occurrence) to win in consecutive starts and the 13th player (and 14th occurrence) to win consecutive events.
  • With a bogey-free 7-under 64, Fisk carded his ninth consecutive round under par, going back to the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard.
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Kris Ventura (T3/-15) recorded his third consecutive 5-under 66 of the week, making six birdies (Nos. 3, 4, 10, 11, 14 and 15) against one bogey (No. 2).
  • The Moss, Norway, native has made the cut in five of his seven previous starts this season, including a second-place finish at the 117th Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro, falling to Mason Andersen in a sudden-death playoff.
• Second-year member Tim Widing (T3/-15) seeks his fifth top-25 finish and second top 10 in his eighth start of the year; he recorded eight top-25s in 25 starts last season
  • Widing turned in a 4-under 67 on Saturday with five birdies (Nos. 1, 2, 9, 10 and 14) with one bogey on the par-4 16th.
• Walker (T7/-13), who made the cut on the number at 5-under, climbed 57 positions with a third-round 8-under 63, matching his career-low round (last: 2023 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank/R3).
  • The University of Virginia product earned guaranteed starts in the first 12 events of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season with a T7 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
• Chris Petefish (T7/-13), who finished No. 45 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, moved up the leaderboard on Saturday with an 8-under 6 with nine birdies (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 and 18) against one bogey on the par-4 16th.
• Billy Kennerly (T7/-13), who made his first cut of the season in his fifth start, made the first hole-in-one in the history of the LECOM Suncoast Classic on the 160-yard par-3 15th en route to a 6-under 65.
• Making his 10th career start, Korn Ferry Tour rookie Sudarshan Yellamarju (T17/-9) is looking for his first career top-25 finish on Sunday after a third-round 2-under 69 to end the day T17
  • Yellamarju finished T14 at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry to earn guaranteed starts in the first 12 events of the year.
• Along with Fisk, four other players carded bogey-free rounds: Myles Creighton (T7/-13) with a 6-under 65, Spencer Levin (T41/-10) with a 5-under 66, Aldrich Potgieter (T48/-9) with a 4-under 67 and a 2-under 69 from Jared Wolfe (T61/-7).
• Fifteen-year-old Miles Russell (T48/-9), who became the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event, finished the day at 9-under for the event with a 1-under 70.