Nelson Ledesma maintains lead at BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX

GREENVILLE, South Carolina – Following a bogey-free 5-under 65 in Friday’s second round of the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX, Nelson Ledesma once again held the outright lead at 14-under par. The 31-year-old Argentinian carded his first bogey-free round of the season at the Thornblade Club, extending his lead to two strokes. Five players, three of whom are past Korn Ferry Tour winners, are tied for second at 12-under par.

Ledesma recorded back-to-back birdies at the par-5 second and par-4 third, and tallied three more on the back nine at the par-4 10th, 12th and 18th.

"It was a really calm round,” Ledesma said. “I hit it very well from the tee and it gave me some good chances for birdie. It was not a round that I felt at any moment it would be complicated for me."

In his 69th Korn Ferry Tour start, the Tucuman, Argentina native and two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner took an outright 36-hole lead for the third time in his career. Ledesma’s first 36-hole lead was at the 2018 The Panama Championship, but he eventually settled for a T11 finish. The second and most recent lead was at the 2019 Ascendant presented by Blue, where he earned his second career victory. Ledesma’s first win was his rookie season at the 2018 LECOM Health Challenge.

“They were two different victories,” Ledesma said. “The first one was one that I didn't expect because I wasn't hitting it really well. The second one, I was playing well the two weeks before that and it was a week that I expected to play well. This feels similar to that second win. I've been playing well during the last two weeks and the idea is to keep rolling during the weekend."

Ledesma turned professional at just 17 years old, playing his early career on the Tour de Profesionales de Golf in Argentina and winning six times before making his way to PGA TOUR Canada in 2011 and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2012. A No. 5 finish on the 2017 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit, largely off the strength of a win, awarded Ledesma Korn Ferry Tour membership and meant leaving his home country as his journey continued in the United States.

Above all else, Ledesma missed his family and friends as he crisscrossed the U.S. in pursuit of a PGA TOUR card.

“I have two kids and I stay in the [United States] for six, seven weeks in a row because we don't have the chance to get back to Argentina,” Ledesma said. “If we do it's only for one week because it's a long trip. I really miss my kids, my parents, my friends, and the way we do barbeques during the weekends. It's a tradition that we have. I've been in the United States for a while and I do enjoy every week here also."

Ledesma earned a PGA TOUR card after a No. 8 finish on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List, but an injury contributed to his finishes of No. 217 and No. 192 in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 FedExCup Standings.

"The two years that I played on the PGA TOUR, I wasn't giving 100 percent,” Ledesma said. “I was dealing with a knee and left shoulder injury that I had surgery on last December. Now my body is in a different situation. I think that I can take some experience from the PGA TOUR and bring that back to my season on the Korn Ferry [Tour] and have the chance to get back to [the PGA TOUR] at 100 percent.”

After recovering from surgery, Ledesma returned to the field for the 2022 Veritex Bank Championship. After four consecutive missed cuts, Ledesma recorded a pair of T47s and a T13, his highest finish in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event since his win in 2019.