Nelson Ledesma fires career-low round to lead BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX

GREENVILLE, South Carolina – The Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX opened Thursday at Thornblade Club and The Carolina Country Club, with two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Nelson Ledesma playing his last eight holes at 6-under par at The Carolina Country Club to take the outright 18-hole lead with a 9-under 63. Ledesma’s 63 marks his career-low round on the Korn Ferry Tour and ties his career-low round in PGA TOUR-sanctioned play.

Thursday marked the third time Ledesma held the lead the 18-hole lead on the Korn Ferry Tour. The last occurrence was at the 2019 Ascendant presented by Blue, where he eventually collected his second career Korn Ferry Tour win.

Ledesma, a native of Tucuman, Argentina, started on No. 10 and rattled off four birdies in a row on Nos. 13, 14, 15, and 16, followed by one of his two bogeys, a five at the par-4 18th. Ledesma birdied the par-4 second, posted the highlight of his round with an eagle at the par-5 fourth, played Nos. 5 and 6 even par with a birdie and bogey, and closed with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-9.

“I played really solid during the whole round,” Ledesma said. “I hit it really well from the tee and since it's a short course, I took an advantage with short irons and I played really well on the greens."

At just 17 years old, Ledesma turned professional in 2007 and played majority of his early career on the Tour de Profesionales de Golf in Argentina, winning six times before making his way to PGA TOUR Canada in 2011 and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2012.

Ledesma was a stalwart on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, playing the circuit every year until he finished No. 5 on the 2017 Order of Merit, largely off the strength of his first win, and earned Korn Ferry Tour membership.

"I turned professional really young,” Ledesma said. “I was lucky to get my exemption into playing the Argentinian Tour but at that time I didn't have the money to play outside of Argentina, and that's the reason I didn't play in [PGA TOUR Canada] until 2011. Since then I've played PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR and my career has started to grow."

As a Korn Ferry Tour rookie in 2018, Ledesma won the LECOM Health Challenge but ultimately finished No. 33 on the regular season money list and missed out on a PGA TOUR card. The following year, Ledesma won The Ascendant presented by Blue, logged another pair of top-3 finishes and earned his first PGA TOUR card as he finished No. 8 on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List.

The last two seasons on the PGA TOUR, Ledesma finished No. 217 and No. 192 in the FedExCup Standings, bringing him back to the Korn Ferry Tour.

Second-round tee times will from 6:45 a.m. through 1:34 p.m. local time off the first and 10th tees at Thornblade Club and The Carolina Country Club.