Austin Hitt leads by one stroke over Nelson Ledesma and Stuart Macdonald after 36 holes at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation.

Charting the leader (stats entering week)

Austin Hitt (First/13-under)

• Makes 10 birdies and one bogey en route to career-low 9-under 61; his lowest score in 161 previous career rounds on the Korn Ferry Tour was 62 (2024 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Hiland Dairy Foods in Round 1)
• Ties Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation 18-hole scoring record previously established by Chris Baker (2024 in Round 2), Matt Atkins (2024 in Round 3), Max McGreevy (2024 in Round 3), and Nelson Ledesma (2025 in Round 1)
• At 13-under 127, ties Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation 36-hole scoring record previously established by Paul Peterson, who went on to win the 2024 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation
• Holds his second 36-hole lead/co-lead in what is his 50th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour (T1 at 2024 Panama Championship, where he finished T11)
• Stands No. 41 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and is the highest-ranked player without a top-10 this season (next-highest player without a top-10: Augusto Núñez at No. 69)
• Finished No. 48 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List as a rookie, earning fully exempt status for the 2025 season (top 75 from Points List)
• Missed cut at the 2024 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, his only previous appearance
• Played two seasons on PGA TOUR Canada (2021, 2022) and two seasons on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (2022, 2023), earning Korn Ferry Tour membership for the first time with a No. 4 finish on the 2023 Order of Merit
• Played five seasons at the University of North Carolina (2016-21), where he posted a 72.20 career scoring average and earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference selections in 2019 and 2021

Additional notes

• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Nelson Ledesma (T2/12 under) follows career-low 9-under 61 with bogey-free 3-under 67 to total 12-under 128, his lowest opening 36-hole score in what is his 147th career start on Tour; also marks his highest 36-hole position since holding the outright lead through 36 holes of the 2024 UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH/finished third.
• Stuart Macdonald (T2/12 under), who stands No. 46 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, birdies four consecutive holes on the back nine (Nos. 14-17) to card 5-under 65 and match his career-high 36-hole position (2021 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club and finished T28).
• Zach Bauchou (T4/11 under), who stands No. 30 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, plays his final 10 holes in 7-under par to card 6-under 64; ties his second-highest 36-hole position on Tour this season (T1 at Tulum Championship at PGA Riviera Maya, where he finished T8; T4/The Panama Championship/finished T17).
• Rookie Caleb VanArragon (T4/11 under), who stands No. 67 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, ties his career-high 36-hole position (2025 NV5 Invitational and finished T7, 2025 Veritex Bank Championship and finished ninth).
• Trent Phillips (T4/11 under), who stands No. 60 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, ties his career-high 36-hole position (2024 Veritex Bank Championship and finished third).
• Patrick Welch (T4/11 under), who stands No. 54 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, records his sixth consecutive round in the 60s and stands inside the top five through 36 holes for the second time this season (3rd/Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Hiland Dairy Foods/finished second).
• Rookie Zach James (T4/11 under), who stands No. 51 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, stands inside the top five through 36 holes for the third time this season (second at Veritex Bank Championship and finished T2; first at Pinnacle Bank Championship presented Woodhouse and finished T8).
• Four-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Robby Shelton (T9/-10), who earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the 2019 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, stands inside the top 10 through 36 holes for the third time in what is his fourth appearance at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation (T6/2019, T4/2022).
• Davis Shore (T18/7 under), a Knoxville, Tennessee native and Sneds Tour alum who stands No. 38 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, cards 4-under 66 for his sixth consecutive round in the 60s at Vanderbilt Legends Club; he finished T26 at the 2024 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation with four rounds in the 60s (67-67-66-68).
• Blades Brown (T38/4 under), an 18-year-old Nashville, Tennessee native who stands No. 75 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, cards bogey-free 3-under 67 to record his seventh made cut in 11 starts on Tour.
• Cole Sherwood (MC/2 under), a Vanderbilt University alum who stands No. 34 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List in his first full season on Tour, misses the cut after back-to-back rounds of 1-under 69.
• Upon conclusion of this week’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, the top 144 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List will qualify for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the second of four season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.
• Three players who began the week outside the top 144 of the Korn Ferry Tour Points List made the cut:
  • No. 153 Ian Gilligan (T27/5 under) – projected No. 144
  • No. 147 Bio Kim (T38/4 under) – projected No. 145
  • No. 145 Clay Feagler (T27/5 under) – projected No. 137