Charting the leader (stats entering week)

Barend Botha (first/-10)

• Cards six birdies in a seven-hole stretch (Nos. 9-11, 13-15) en route to 5-under 67, tying the low round of the day (Sandy Scott)
• Stands No. 54 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with a victory this week being his only potential path to finish in the top 20 and earn PGA TOUR membership for the first time
• Holds his first 54-hole lead/co-lead in a Korn Ferry Tour event (previous career-high 54-hole position: T4/2025 Compliance Solutions Championship/finished T7)
• Rookie who boasts three top 10s, highlighted by a T2 finish at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health, in 24 starts this season
• Earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for the first time via a No. 4 finish in the 2024 Fortinet Cup standings on PGA TOUR Americas
• Won twice on PGA TOUR Americas last season, earning victories at the 2024 BioSteel Championship and 2024 Commissionaires Ottawa Open
• Played four seasons at University of Toledo (2020-24), where he recorded four individual victories and was the 2023 and 2024 Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Year

Sandy Scott (T2/-9)

• Follows back-to-back opening rounds of 1-under 70 with a third-round 5-under 67, tying the low round of the day (Barend Botha)
• Rookie who stands No. 63 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with a victory this week being his only potential path to finishing in the top 20 and earning PGA TOUR membership
• Rookie who owns two top 10s in 24 starts this season (T7/Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank, T3/Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS)
• Establishes a new career-high 54-hole position (previous: T4/2025 The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island/finished T15)
• Making first career start at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing and Finance
• Earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for the first time via a No. 8 finish in the 2024 Fortinet Cup standings on PGA TOUR Americas; he finished solo second at the season-ending 2024 Fortinet Cup Championship to move into the top 10 of the final 2024 Fortinet Cup standings
• Finished No. 14 in the 2023 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit to earn PGA TOUR Americas membership for the 2024 season
• Played six seasons at Texas Tech University (2016-22), where he claimed two individual victories (2019 El Macero Classic, 2019 The Carmel Cup) and was teammates with PGA TOUR winner Ludvig Åberg for three seasons (2019-22)
• Born in Inverness, Scotland, and grew up in a small Scottish town called Nairn, where he honed his game at Nairn Golf Club, which most notably hosted events such as The Amateur Championship (1994, 2021), Walker Cup (1999), The Amateur Women’s Championship (1979) and Curtis Cup (2012)

Neal Shipley (T2/-9)

• Stands No. 3 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and is one of 11 players already declared #TOURBound and mathematically assured of a PGA TOUR card
• Two-time winner this season with comeback victories at the LECOM Suncoast Classic (overcame four-stroke 54-hole deficit, won in a playoff) and The Ascendant presented by Blue (overcame seven-stroke 54-hole deficit, won by one stroke)
• Bidding to become the 14th player in Korn Ferry Tour history to achieve the Three-Victory Promotion (established in 1997), which would grant him immediate eligibility for the remaining FedExCup Fall events on the PGA TOUR (most recent Three-Victory Promotion: Matt McCarty, 2024)
• At 24 years, 9 months, 19 days of age on Sunday, he would become the seventh-youngest player to earn three victories in Korn Ferry Tour history, trailing Michael Sim (24 years, 6 months, 24 days), Pierceson Coody (23 years, 6 months, 16 days), Russell Henley (23 years, 5 months, 18 days), Stewart Cink (23 years, 4 months, 29 days), Carlos Ortiz (23 years, 4 months) and Nick Flanagan (23 years, 2 months, 6 days).
• Making his 24th career start, would tie Stewart Cink for the eighth-fewest starts to earn three victories in Korn Ferry Tour history
• Turned professional in 2024 after three seasons at James Madison University (2019-22) and two seasons at Ohio State University (2022-24)
• Runner-up finisher at the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship (won by two-time PGA TOUR winner Nick Dunlap)
• Earned low amateur honors at the 2024 Masters Tournament and 2024 U.S. Open, becoming the first player since Viktor Hovland (2019) to earn low amateur honors at both events in the same year

Additional notes

• Korn Ferry Tour winner Chandler Blanchet (fourth/-8) cards a bogey-free 4-under 68, one of three bogey-free rounds Saturday (Joe Weiler, Davis Chatfield); he stands No. 7 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and is one of 11 players declared #TOURBound and mathematically assured of a PGA TOUR card.
• Stuart Macdonald (T5/-7), one of five 36-hole co-leaders, currently standsNo. 50 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with a victory this week being his only potential path to finish in the top 20 and earn PGA TOUR membership for the first time.
• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Justin Suh (T7/-6), who was named the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, following his victory at the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing and Finance, entered the week at No. 24 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and needs a three-way T3 finish to potentially move inside the top 20 and secure PGA TOUR membership.
• Based on current projections, one player is projected to move into the top 20:
  • No. 54 Barend Botha (first/-10) – projected No. 14
• Based on current projections, one player is projected to fall out of the top 20:
  • No. 18 Pontus Nyholm (T42/+2) – projected No. 21
• The Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing and Finance is the 26th and final event of the 2025 season, and the top 20 players on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List upon conclusion of the final round will earn PGA TOUR membership for the 2026 season.
• Additionally, players ranked Nos. 21-50 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List upon conclusion of the final round will earn an exemption for Final Stage of 2025 PGA TOUR Q-School, where PGA TOUR cards will be awarded to the top five finishers.