Three players share 18-hole lead at LECOM Suncoast Classic

Things to Know

Korn Ferry Tour rookie and Tampa, Florida native Jackson Suber, along with second-year Korn Ferry Tour members Logan McAllister and Patrick Cover share the 18-hole lead after 8-under 63s

Suber makes two eagles (par-4 fourth, par-5 sixth) and finishes as one of four players in the field with multiple eagles Thursday; the others are Zack Fischer, Roger Sloan, and Jared Wolfe – all of whom stand T11 at 6-under par

Suber and Cover card two of Thursday’s seven bogey-free rounds

Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Ben Silverman logs bogey-free 7-under 64, sits one stroke off the lead, and is the only one of the 10 players standing T4 or higher to previously win on the Korn Ferry Tour (2023 The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club; 2017 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper)

There are 27 players are within three strokes of the lead; there were 30 players within three strokes of the lead after Round 1 last year, and a tournament-high 31 players within three strokes of the lead after Round 1 in 2020

Second-round tee times will run from 7 a.m. through 2:37 p.m. off the first and 10th tees

First-Round Lead Notes

0: First-round leaders/co-leaders to win the LECOM Suncoast Classic

0: First-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2023 (last: David Lingmerth/2022 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship)

Patrick Cover (T1/-8)

Making his 30th start in his second season as a Korn Ferry Tour member, holds his second 18-hole lead/co-lead (1st/2022 Live and Work in Maine Open; finished T15, his highest finish on the Korn Ferry Tour prior to 2023)

Makes eight birdies (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14) and zero bogeys for career-low round of 8-under 63 (previous: 7-under 64/2022 Live and Work in Maine Open, Round 1; 2023 Veritex Bank Championship, Round 4)

Four made cuts in seven starts this season include a career-high T14 at The Panama Championship

Finished No. 156 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and regained membership for 2023 with a T29 at Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, which earned him guaranteed starts for the first eight events this season

Prior to earning Korn Ferry Tour membership for the first time at Final Stage of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, played the 2019 season on PGA TOUR Series – China, the 2021 season on PGA TOUR Canada, and made a start on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica during the 2020-21 season

Turned professional out of University of North Carolina-Wilmington in 2018

Logan McAllister (T1/-8)

Making 16th career start in first full season on the Korn Ferry Tour, holds his first 18-hole lead/co-lead; his previous career-high 18-hole position was T10/2023 The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (finished T10)

After a bogey at the par-3 third, closes front nine with five consecutive birdies (Nos. 5-9) and adds four back-nine birdies (Nos. 11, 13, 15, 16) to shoot career-low round by three strokes (previous: 5-under 66/2022 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS, Round 3)

Entered the week with one top-10 (T10/The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club) and six missed cuts in seven starts this season

Earned guaranteed starts for the first eight events of the 2023 season with a T39 finish at Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament; he birdied his 71st hole to move into the top 40 and earn the eight starts

Finished No. 3 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, which earned him Korn Ferry Tour membership and starts in the final eight events of the season; he made three cuts and posted a season-high finish of T20/2022 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper

Played four seasons at University of Oklahoma (2018-22), where he was a two-time All-American (first-team selection in 2022, third-team selection in 2021), won four times individually and set a school record for career scoring average (70.98)

Jackson Suber (T1/-8)

Tampa native and resident making fifth start of his rookie season, holds his first 18-hole lead/co-lead

Makes two eagles (Nos. 4 and 6) and four birdies (Nos. 1, 9, 10, 11) for career-low round of 8-under 63

Previous career-high 18-hole position was T7 at last week’s Veritex Bank Championship (finished T10)

Following a T49 as a sponsor exemption at The Panama Championship, climbed the priority ranking via the first reshuffle and posted sequential finishes of T61 (Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club), T15 (Astara Chile Classic), and T10 (Veritex Bank Championship)

Began the season buried in the priority ranking after T101 finish at Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament; his first start of the 2023 season came in the third event (The Panama Championship) as a sponsor exemption

Finished No. 9 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, which earned him PGA TOUR Canada membership last season (six made cuts, zero top-25s in eight starts)

Played four seasons at University of Mississippi (2018-22), amassing five career wins, earning 2022 All-America Third Team recognition as a senior, and garnering back-to-back All-Southeastern Conference First Team honors as a junior and senior

Quotables

Patrick Cover on his steady improvement… “I’ve played on all of the PGA TOUR-sanctioned tours, including China, which isn’t around anymore. I’ve played at every level. Ever since junior golf, it’s taken me a little bit to get comfortable and get going. Every new level that I get to, whether it was junior golf to college, then college to elite amateur, and then even being on the mini-tours, it’s always taken me a little bit of time to get comfortable. I feel like I’ve gotten comfortable now. Last year I felt like I had to play amazing to get myself into contention or to have good rounds out here. Now I just feel like if I go about my business and play my game, I’ll see it add up to a good finish at the end of the week.”

Logan McAllister on Thursday’s 8-under 63… “I hit a lot of really close shots. Didn’t really make that many 20-footers or anything. I was just hitting the ball well enough where I made a bunch of 8-footers for birdie and it added up to a good score.

McAllister on the transition from college to the Korn Ferry Tour… “It was a pretty tough transition just getting the hang of what life is like on the road. Quite frankly, I haven’t played that good in the year that I’ve been a pro, but I could feel the last few weeks myself starting to get the hang of it a little bit, figuring out what I need to do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to be the most prepared I can be to step up on the first tee and play a good round on Thursday.”

Jackson Suber on his sponsor exemption earlier this year… “I had conditional (membership) and the tournament I would’ve gone to was (Astara) Chile (Classic). For Korn Ferry to give me that exemption was huge, so thank you to everybody there. It changed my whole year. Everyone says just go out there and play like you’re going to win, but in the back of your mind, you know if you’re not making the cut, you’ll probably be in a lot of Monday qualifiers. It’s a big difference. I could’ve played a Monday qualifier today with the game I have and not gotten through. That’s how tough they are.”

Notes

John Augenstein (T4/-7) stands inside the top five through 18 holes for the second time this season (T3/Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard; finished T7, his first career top-10)

Rookie Isaiah Salinda (T4/-7) makes a field-leading 10 birdies to post career-low 7-under 64 in his seventh career start, holds his career-high 18-hole position (previous: T26/2020 TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons; missed cut)

Rookie Davis Chatfield (T4/-7) birdies his first five holes (Nos. 10-14) and cards 7-under 64 despite a double bogey at the par-4 second; he is the only one of the 19 players standing T11 or higher to make a double bogey or worse, and his previous career-high 18-hole position in seven career Korn Ferry Tour starts was T54 (2023 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay/finished T56)

Patrick Fishburn (T4/-7), who had missed cuts in his first five starts of the season prior to a T3 at last week’s Veritex Bank Championship, logs a bogey-free 7-under 64, his sixth round of 64 or better in his 231st career round on the Korn Ferry Tour

Kevin Dougherty (T4/-7) cards his lowest round in his fifth start at the LECOM Suncoast Classic (previous: 7-under 65/2020, Round 2)

Bronson Burgoon (T4/-7), a PGA TOUR member since the start of the 2015-16 season, is making just his second PGA TOUR-sanctioned start since April 2022 (missed cut last week at Veritex Bank Championship), makes eight birdies and one bogey to post 7-under 64

Tampa native and resident Jimmy Stanger and 18-year-old amateur Beni Long, a Lakewood Ranch resident and open qualifier this week, open in 1-under 70 and stand T88