Nelson Ledesma fires third-round 65, grabs two-shot lead at KC Golf Classic
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Escrito por Preston Smith
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Argentinian Nelson Ledesma carded a bogey-free 65 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead at the KC Golf Classic. Ledesma’s round was one of three bogey-free rounds on moving day and one of only seven over the first three rounds at Blue Hills Country Club.
“Today was a solid round,” said Ledesma. “I hit it really well all day; everything felt right. I believe what is making a difference for me right now is my putting on the greens.”
Ledesma leads the field with only 80 putts through 54 holes, including 26 on Saturday. His strong putting has offset some struggles off the tee through the first three rounds. He has hit only 19 of 42 fairways and was worst in the field in that category during the first round (three of 14 fairways).
Ledesma will play in the final group on Sunday for the first time since joining the Web.com Tour in 2018. He earned his first Web.com Tour victory at the 2018 LECOM Health Challenge playing out of the second-to-last group.
“I feel good at the top of the leaderboard,” said Ledesma. “I have had two top-10s this year. I feel relaxed and feel like I’m playing well.”
While Ledesma’s birdie numbers have been impressive, bogey-avoidance might be the key to the 28-year-old’s success. After racking up five bogeys in his opening round on Thursday, Ledesma only had one bogey over his last 36 holes. He added seven more birdies to his tournament-leading 17 during the third round, punctuated by getting up and down for birdie at the par-5 18th to close out his 65.
Despite a multitude of birdies to choose from, it was an approach shot at the 17th leading to a par that proved he was dialed in.
“My shot of the day was on No. 17 when I hit the flagstick with my approach shot,” said Ledesma. “It didn’t result in a birdie, but when you actually hit the flagstick then you know it was a great shot.”
Kyle Reifers, a 35-year-old Wake Forest University alum, sits two shots back after a third-round 67 and 9-under total. On Thursday, Reifers triple-bogeyed his first hole of the tournament with an 8 at the par-5 first. He then played the next 53 holes in 12-under to sit solo second.
Reifers is seeking his first top-10 finish on the Web.com Tour since 2014 when he had three third-place finishes on his way to earning his PGA TOUR card. He competed on TOUR in 2015, 2016 and 2017 before returning to the Web.com Tour for the last two years.
Three players are tied for third at 8-under 208: Jack Maguire, Michael Gellerman and 36-hole leader Luke Guthrie.
Final-round tee times will run from 7 a.m. to 9:12 a.m. off of the first and 10th tees.