Charting the leader (stats entering the week)

Ross Steelman (first/-17)

• Ties the 18-hole tournament scoring record and TPC Colorado course record with third-round 9-under 63, highlighted by eagles at the par-5 first and 15th
• Bogeyed the par-4 18th, the toughest hole relative to par through 54 holes, falling one stroke shy of holding the 18-hole tournament scoring record and TPC Colorado course record outright (ties Chase Johnson/2020/R4, Greyson Sigg/2020/R4, Taylor Moore/2021/R1, Richy Werenski/2024/R1, Alistair Docherty/2024/R3 and Kevin Dougherty/2025/R3)
• Seeking first Korn Ferry Tour win, holds his first 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour (previous career-high 54-hole position: T6/2024 The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club; finished T20)
• Equals the largest 54-hole lead at The Ascendant presented by Blue (Matt McCarty/2024)
• Career-high finish in 44 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour is solo third at the 2024 The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island
• 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
• Logged a missed cut at the 2024 Ascendant presented by Blue, his only previous appearance at the event
• 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

• Korn Ferry Tour Class of 2023 graduate Kevin Dougherty (second/-14) joins Steelman in tying the 18-hole tournament scoring record and TPC Colorado course record with third-round 9-under 63; he is seeking his first Korn Ferry Tour win in his 151st career start on Tour
• Ian Holt (T3/-13), who earned Korn Ferry Tour membership via a No. 10 finish in the 2024 Fortinet Cup standings on PGA TOUR Americas, equals his career-high 54-hole position in his 35th start on Tour (2025 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open/finished T13)
• Only three of the eight players who currently stand T6 or higher are Korn Ferry Tour winners: Jorge Fernández Valdés (T3/-13), T.J. Vogel (fifth/-12) and three-time winner Pierceson Coody (T6/-11).
• Thirty-six-hole co-leaders Marcus Plunkett (T14/-9), a United States Military Academy graduate, and Tom Whitney (T20/-8), a United States Air Force Academy graduate, both card over-par rounds and fall out of the top 10.
• Open qualifier Blades Brown (T60/-1), an 18-year-old professional in need of a two-way T35 finish or higher to earn Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season, cards bogey-free, 5-under 67 in the second round to make the 36-hole cut on the number.
• Brown is one of three open qualifiers who made the cut this week, with the others being Colorado State University and University of Denver alum Connor Jones (T20/-8) and Colorado Christian University alum Sangha Park (T54/-2).