Robby Shelton cards 66 to claim third-round lead at Knoxville Open

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – With the first 54 holes down at the Knoxville Open, Robby Shelton is in a familiar spot atop the leaderboard.

Shelton carded a 5-under 66 on Saturday to post a three-day total of 15-under 198 and lead by two strokes at Fox Den Country Club. The third-round lead is his third in his past five tournaments.

Shelton has been remarkably consistent over the last two months. The 23-year-old has led or co-led after seven of his past 19 rounds on the Web.com Tour, including his first career victory two weeks ago at the Nashville Golf Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation. He has gone 94-under over his past eight tournaments (including this week), while his last four finishes have resulted in a win, runner-up, T4 and missed cut.

“I’ve never had a month like this, honestly,” Shelton said. “I had a good run in college, my freshman year especially. And in Canada, I played well up there too, but nothing like this. Playing under par is pretty easy to me right now.”

Despite mixed results last year in his first season on the Web.com Tour, Shelton is no stranger to playing at an elite level. He was the No. 1 junior in the world coming out of high school and was named the Phil Mickelson Award winner as the nation’s top freshman in 2014 at the University of Alabama, joining Justin Thomas (2012) as the only Alabama players to win the award. He became a three-time All-American with the Crimson Tide before winning on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2017 to reach the Web.com Tour.

Shelton overcame a bogey on his opening hole with birdies at the third and fourth to make the turn at 1-under. He added birdies at the 10th, 12th, 13th and 17th coming in for a bogey-free back nine and a 5-under 66 total.

“The putter comes and goes, but I usually hit it pretty well,” Shelton said. “I hit fairways and greens, but right now my irons are really good. It’s putting me inside 20 feet and then the putter feels really good. It’s either a make or right there on the edge every time. I can’t be mad about that.”

Though he has become a mainstay atop the leaderboard over the last month, Shelton is especially excited to contend in front of his parents tomorrow. His parents attended the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship when he lost in a playoff but missed his victory in Nashville.

“It means everything to me to have my parents here,” Shelton said. “They came up to Prattville as well but they made the drive yesterday morning. My girlfriend is here too, and her parents are driving up tomorrow as well, so I’m looking forward to that.”

With his win in Nashville, along with his runner-up in Alabama, Shelton has already locked up his PGA TOUR card for the 2019-20 season and sits second on the Web.com Tour points list. But a win tomorrow would allow him to compete for the “Battlefield Promotion” for the remainder of the season. When a player wins three times on the Web.com Tour in a season, they earn immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR for the remainder of the season. The last player to accomplish the feat was Wesley Bryan in 2016. The achievement has only occurred 11 times in the Web.com Tour’s history.

Shelton sits two strokes clear of Ben Taylor, Mark Hubbard and Billy Kennerly, each at 13-under 200. Hubbard will also be aiming for his second win of the year (and a PGA TOUR card), while Kennerly and Taylor will each be seeking their first. Taylor won last year at the Country Club de Bogota Championship but failed to earn his PGA TOUR card through the Regular Season.

Final-round tee times will run from 6:54 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. on Sunday off of the first tee.