Van Holmgren breaks 54-hole scoring record to lead 117th Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro

Things to Know

• First-time member Van Holmgren cards six birdies, one eagle and two bogeys en route to 6-under 64 and a one-stroke lead at 16-under 194, breaking the Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro 54-hole tournament scoring record by three strokes (197/José Cóceres/1988/Hurlingham Club)
• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Kris Ventura and open qualifier Dalton Ward tie Holmgren for the low round of the day with matching 6-under 64s, with Ventura standing solo second and one stroke off the lead at 15-under 195, and Ward standing solo third and two strokes off the lead at 14-under 196
• Of the six players within four strokes of the lead, Ventura is the only one to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, and the only other Korn Ferry Tour winner in the top 10 is Martin Trainer (T7/-11)
• Ward would become eligible for Special Temporary Membership for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season with a finish of solo second, which would award him 300 points (this season’s threshold for Special Temporary Membership is 253.82 points, equivalent to the No. 100 finisher from the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List)
• The winner of the 117th Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro will earn an exemption for The Open Championship 2024 at Royal Troon this coming July

Charting the Leader

Van Holmgren (1st/-16)

• Breaks the Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro 54-hole tournament scoring record by three strokes at 16-under 194 (previous record: 197/José Cóceres/1988/Hurlingham Club)
• Leads the field with 20 combined birdies and eagles (19 birdies, one eagle)
• Making second career start on the Korn Ferry Tour (MC/2024 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard) in his first season as a member
• Earned conditional membership for 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season with T71 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry (played his way through First Stage and Second Stage)
• Turned professional in 2021 and played the 2022 PGA TOUR Canada season, finishing No. 64 in the Fortinet Cup standings with one top-10 in seven starts (T7/2022 Quebec Open)
• Won the 105th Minnesota State Open in 2021 shortly after turning professional, and won the 115th Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship in 2018
• Played three seasons at North Dakota State University (2017-20), followed by a season at Florida Gulf Coast University (2020-21) highlighted by medalist honors at the 2021 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship
• Stands 6 feet, 8 inches tall and hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota

Quotables

Holmgren on which of the performance benefits that come with winning will be on his mind Sunday… “Nothing. We're hunting for trophies no matter what. Got to do my best to stay present, I think. Being able to compete and compete on the weekend is kind of a blessing and I want to just try and have fun with it, do my best.”

Holmgren on deciding to walk on to the golf team at North Dakota State University instead of enrolling as a student at the University of Minnesota… “I think I always knew that I wanted to play golf, I think I was really good at it, I love the competition. The only thing that just threw me off was I grew a foot… and it just got so hard. I mean, every time I looked at the ball, it was further away. So it's hard to just go through that and still love the game. But when I got it back, it was nice. I think I went from like 5‑foot-6, 5-foot‑7 to 6-foot‑8 in about 13 months my sophomore year (of high school). It was crazy. I'd wake up in the middle of the night with back pains, shoes never fit, all that stuff.”

Ventura on Olivos Golf Club… “Initially I thought that there's going to be a lot of doglegs, so for me, I hit it far so maybe that wasn't ideal for this course, but after playing the last few days, I'm taking some aggressive lines off the tee using my length to my advantage and it's paid off. I'm hitting the driver really well and putting myself in positions to make some birdies.”

Additional Player Notes

• Ventura (2nd/-15) stands solo second or higher through 54 holes for the fourth time in what is his 68th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour
  • 1st/2023 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard/finished T7
  • 2nd/2019 WinCo Foods Portland Open/finished 3rd
  • 1st/2019 Pinnacle Bank Championship/Won
• Open qualifier Ward (3rd/-14), who logged 13 missed cuts and three top-25s in 19 starts last season on the Korn Ferry Tour, stands higher than T17 through 54 holes for the second time in what is his 26th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour (T7/2023 Astara Golf Classic presented by Scotiabank/finished T25)
• Brian Campbell (T4/-13) stands inside the top five through 54 holes for the second time this season (T2/Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard/finished P2); prior to this season, he last stood inside the top five through 54 holes of a Korn Ferry Tour event at the 2019 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX/finished T3
• Brendon Jelley (T4/-13) stands inside the top 10 through 54 holes of a Korn Ferry Tour event for the first time in what is his 20th career start on Tour; he is making his first start of the 2024 season this week
• 36-hole co-leaders Ryan Blaum (T4/-13) and Kyle Westmoreland (T27/-8) slip down the leaderboard after rounds of 1-under 69 and 4-over 74 (tied for the third-highest score of the third round), respectively
• Cristobal Del Solar (T11/-10) leads the trio of players from South America who made the cut