Chad Ramey earns first 54-hole lead at Live and Work in Maine Open

FALMOUTH, Maine – With 17 top-25s in 35 starts this season, Chad Ramey is no stranger to contention. But on Saturday he accomplished something he had yet to do: earn the lead after a round on Tour.

At 13-under through three rounds, Ramey enters the final day at the inaugural Live and Work in Maine Open one stroke clear of a trio of players at 12-under. His first lead after a tournament round comes in his 87th start as a professional at Falmouth Country Club.

“I’m excited that I’ve put myself in the position that I want to be in and I just have to go take care of business in the morning,” said the 28-year-old.

Ramey took an early bogey at the par-3 second hole but collected three front-nine birdies to turn at 2-under on the day. Another bogey setback at the 10th dropped him to 11-under for the week, but he tallied two birdies late on the par-5s (Nos. 14 and 17) to get back to 13-under with a Saturday 68.

Rather than his normal caddie, Ramey’s father, Stanley, is caddying for him this week, something he referenced as throwing him back to his junior golf days.

“Got the dad on the bag,” laughed Ramey. “It’s awesome. He used to caddie for me when I was a junior some so it’s been a while and it’s nice to have him here…He’s always been kind of like my second swing coach. We go get a lesson and come back and work on things together. He knows my game as well as anybody. It’s nice to have him there to pick out little things here and there.”

With his PGA TOUR card locked up later this summer at eighth in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings, Ramey has shifted his focus to earning his first win and improving his standing in the upcoming priority list on the PGA TOUR this fall.

“In the back of mind it’s a little more free, but I’m still chasing my first win,” said Ramey. “I don’t believe I have to go out and play perfect by any means. Just a good solid round…Just fairways and greens, fairways and greens. The putter has been rolling pretty well this week so if I can just give myself a lot of good looks, we’ll go from there.”

As Ramey chases his first win on the Korn Ferry Tour, six players sit within two shots behind him. A trio of players (Ben Kohles, Brady Schnell and Jim Knous) are one stroke back with three more (Taylor Moore, Spencer Levin and Brett Stegmaier) two strokes back.

Final-round tee times will run from 7:10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday off of the first tee at Falmouth Country Club.