Jeremy Gandon and Ian Gilligan are tied for the lead at 16-under par through three rounds of the 2026 LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Gilligan posted 1-under 70 on Saturday while Gandon made his move, carding his second straight round of 65.

Charting the leader (stats entering week)

Jeremy Gandon (T1/16 under)

• Cards 6-under 65 with seven birdies and one bogey to earn a share of the 54-hole lead
• Holds his second 54-hole lead/co-lead in a Korn Ferry Tour event (previous: T1/2025 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club/Won)
• Finished No. 22 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List (top 20 earned PGA TOUR membership) off the strength of his first win on Tour – a playoff victory over Rick Lamb at the 2025 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, where he followed three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Paul Barjon as the second player representing France to win on Tour
• Advanced through both First Stage and Second Stage of 2024 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry on the cut line (T21 at First Stage site in Madison, Mississippi; T14 at Second Stage site in Palm Coast, Florida) as he earned Korn Ferry Tour membership, and finished T50 at Final Stage
• Previously finished No. 137 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List in his first season as a member; he made just seven starts with conditional status, spending much of the season buried on the priority ranking after a T114 finish at Final Stage of 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament (now PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry)
• Played four seasons at Kansas State University (2015-19), winning four times individually, with the crown jewel being co-medalist honors at the 2018 Big 12 Conference Championship at Southern Hills Country Club

Ian Gilligan (T1/16 under)

• Rebounds from 3-over 39 on the front nine with bogey-free, 4-under 31 on the back nine to card 1-under 70 and earn a share of the 54-hole lead at 16-under 197
• Holds his first 54-hole lead/co-lead in a Korn Ferry Tour event (previous career-high 54-hole position: T2/2026 Panama Championship/finished T4)
• Held a three-stroke lead through 36 holes at 15-under 127, the second-lowest opening 36-hole score in the eight playings of the LECOM Suncoast Classic (126/Kevin Dougherty/2023)
• Boasts four top-10 finishes in seven starts this season, tied for the most top 10s on Tour (Hunter Eichhorn)
• Finished No. 129 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with one top 10 in 11 starts, after he earned membership via PGA TOUR University performance benefits; he earned full status for the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Season as one of the top five players on the 2025 PGA TOUR University Total Points List (combined total of FedExCup and Korn Ferry Tour points among Nos. 2-25 from 2025 PGA TOUR University Ranking)
• Finished fourth in the 2025 PGA TOUR University Ranking after two seasons at Long Beach State University (2021-23) and two seasons at the University of Florida (2023-25); he earned six collegiate victories (four at Long Beach State, two at Florida)
• Won the 2024 Western Amateur and 2025 Australian Master of the Amateurs
• In June 2018, at 15 years old and having just finished his freshman year of high school, Gilligan was diagnosed with stage 4 ALK-negative large cell lymphoma, a rare form of lymphoma typically found in adults as opposed to those under 25 years of age; he was declared cancer-free after roughly seven months of treatment

Additional Notes

• Of the eight players who stand T5 or higher, only 54-hole leader Jeremy Gandon (2025 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club) and Trace Crowe (2023 Evans Scholars Invitational, 2025 UNC Health Championship) have won on the Korn Ferry Tour.
• Five of the seven Korn Ferry Tour events this season were won by 54-hole leaders/co-leaders.
• Jay Card III (T3/15 under), who played one season of collegiate golf and earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from High Point University, establishes a new career-high, 54-hole position on the Korn Ferry Tour (previous: T6/2022 LECOM Suncoast Classic/finished T6).
• Korn Ferry Tour Class of 2022 graduate Augusto Núñez (T3/15 under) seeks his first Korn Ferry Tour title in his 151st career start on Tour.
• Caleb VanArragon (T5/14 under), who finished No. 56 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List as a rookie, cards the lowest score of the third round (8-under 63).
• Mitchell Meissner (T5/14 under), who finished No. 21 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List (top 20 earned PGA TOUR membership), cards back-to-back rounds of 6-under 65 and moves into the top five. His younger brother, Mac Meissner, carded a 12-under 59 in the second round of the 2023 LECOM Suncoast Classic and still holds the 18-hole tournament scoring record.
• Conditional members Will Cannon (T23/10 under) and Ricardo Celia (T39/7 under) were the only two (of eight) open qualifiers who made the cut.
• Scott Gutschewski (T66/2 under), winner of the 2023 LECOM Suncoast Classic, and son Luke Gutschewski (T54/5 under) both make the cut in the same event for the first time in two attempts (previous: 2024 Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse).
• Miles Russell (T66/2 under), a 17-year-old amateur and two-time AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year (2023, 2025), follows Blades Brown as the second player in Korn Ferry Tour history to record three made cuts prior to turning 18 years old. Russell previously finished T20 at the 2024 LECOM Suncoast Classic as a sponsor exemption at 15 years of age, becoming the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make the cut, and finished T15 at last week’s Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club.