Ross Steelman among three tied on top after Thursday at The Ascendant presented by Blue
1 Min Read

Ross Steelman makes birdie on No. 14 at THE CJ CUP
Written by Staff
Suspension summary: The first round was suspended due to dangerous weather at 12:05 p.m local time. and resumed at 2:34 p.m. (delay of two hours, 29 minutes), then play suspended again due to dangerous weather at 4:06 p.m., resuming at 5:49 p.m. (delay of 1 hour, 43 minutes). It was suspended due to darkness at 8:29 p.m., with the entire afternoon wave needing to complete their round. The first round resumed at 6:45 a.m. Friday.
Weather: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High of 90. Wind W/NW at N/NE 5-16 mph, gusts of 30-plus mph.
Charting the clubhouse co-leaders (stats entering week)
Category | Ian Holt | Michael Johnson | Ross Steelman |
Age | 29 | 32 | 24 |
2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List | No. 26 | No. 42 | No. 28 |
Starts – Wins – Top-10s on Korn Ferry Tour in 2025 | 16-0-2 | 15-0-1 | 13-0-4 |
Starts – Wins – Top-10s in Korn Ferry Tour Career | 34-0-2 | 156-0-8 | 44-0-6 |
Starts – Wins – Top-10s at The Ascendant | 1-0-0 | 4-0-0 | 1-0-0 |
Ian Holt(T1/-5)
- Makes six birdies – most notably at the par-4 18th, which yielded only five birdies and played as the toughest hole relative to par Thursday – and one bogey en route to 5-under 67
- Career-high 18-hole position in 34 previous Korn Ferry Tour starts is T3 (2023 NV5 Invitational/finished T49)
- Stood in the top five through 18 holes twice this season (T4/Veritex Bank Championship/finished T42; T4/Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard/finished T26)
- Recorded a season- and career-high finish (T2) on Tour at the 118th Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro in March 2025
- Finished T50 at the 2023 Ascendant presented by Blue, his only previous start at the event
- Third season with Korn Ferry Tour membership (2019, 2023); he previously finished No. 150 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List as a rookie
- Finished No. 10 in the 2024 Fortinet Cup standings on PGA TOUR Americas, which earned him Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2025 season
- Began the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season with conditional status and open qualified into his season debut at the 2024 Times Colonist Victoria Open, the eighth event of the season; he recorded back-to-back top-25 finishes and won his third start at the 2024 Explore NB Open, which propelled him to a top 10 finish in the Fortinet Cup standings
- Turned professional in 2018 and played four seasons on PGA TOUR Canada (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
- Played four seasons at Kent State University (2014-18), where he earned three collegiate victories, including medalist honors at the 2018 Mid-American Conference Championship, and was named the MAC Golfer of the Year in 2017 and 2018
Michael Johnson(T1/-5)
- Cards bogey-free, 5-under 67, equaling his lowest score in 13 career rounds at TPC Colorado (R4/2022)
- Held one previous 18-hole lead/co-lead in a Korn Ferry Tour event (2018 Panama Championship/finished T13)
- Stood inside the top five through 18 holes twice this season (T3/LECOM Suncoast Classic/finished T20; T4/Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard/finished T13)
- Recorded a season-high finish of solo fifth at the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH, which marked his highest finish on Tour since the 2018 UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH/T4
- Making fifth appearance at The Ascendant presented by Blue, with two made cuts in four previous starts at the event (T59/2019, T50/2022)
- Currently in his seventh season on the Korn Ferry Tour, with top 75 finishes in the standings in 2017 (No. 63), 2018 (No. 55), and 2024 (No. 69)
- Played five seasons at Auburn University (2011-16), where he was a 2016 All-America First Team selection, a two-time All-Southeastern Conference selection, and recorded five individual victories, tied for the second-most in program history at the time
- Won the 2010 Junior PLAYERS Championship, earning a one-stroke victory over co-runners-up Jordan Spieth and Emiliano Grillo
Ross Steelman(T1/-5)
- Cards seven birdies and two bogeys en route to 5-under 67; His only two previous rounds at TPC Colorado were an even-par 72 and 5-over 77 at the 2024 Ascendant presented by Blue
- Career-high 18-hole position in a Korn Ferry Tour event is T4 (three times, most recent: 2024 LECOM Suncoast Classic/finished T20)
- Stood inside the top five through 18 holes once this season (T5/BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX/finished T10)
- One of nine players with four top-10s this season; he recorded a season-high finish of solo fifth at the Visit Knoxville Open
- Finished No. 56 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List in his first full season on Tour, earning fully exempt status for the 2025 season
- Finished No. 4 in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking after four and a half seasons of collegiate golf (2019-23); he played two and a half seasons at University of Missouri (2019-21 – redshirted after enrolling in January 2019) and two seasons at Georgia Tech (2021-23)
- Finished T2 individually at the 2023 NCAA Championship in his final season at Georgia Tech
Additional notes
- Three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Pierceson Coody (T1/-5), who stands No. 5 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, is one of three players on Tour with six top 10s this season (Hank Lebioda, Mitchell Meissner).
- Korn Ferry Tour Class of 2023 graduate Tom Whitney (T1/-5), who graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, makes four consecutive birdies on Nos. 5-8.
- Three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Zecheng Dou (T6/-4), winner of the 2022 Ascendant presented by Blue, is bidding to become the first multi-time winner of The Ascendant presented by Blue.
- Korn Ferry Tour Class of 2023 graduate Ryan McCormick (T41/-1) makes his first hole-in-one in a Korn Ferry Tour event, aces the par-3 second with an 8-iron.