Adrien Dumont de Chassart takes four-stroke lead at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open

Things to Know

Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who won his professional and Korn Ferry Tour debut last week following No. 3 finish in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, posts career-low 7-under 63 Saturday and birdies par-4 18th hole to take four-stroke lead

Dumont de Chassart is bidding to join Ben Kohles (2012 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship; 2012 Cox Classic) as the only other player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win first two starts on Tour

At 19-under 191, Dumont de Chassart ties Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open 54-hole scoring record, joining 2008 winner Scott Piercy, 2017 winner Aaron Wise, Kevin Yu (2021/T5), and 2022 winner Norman Xiong

Through seven career rounds on the Korn Ferry Tour, Dumont de Chassart has an aggregate score of 40-under par and has only made six bogeys

Ricky Castillo, who finished No. 9 in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, follows even-par 35 on the front nine with four birdies in first six holes on the back nine, carding 4-under 66 to stand T2 and four strokes off the lead in his professional and Korn Ferry Tour debut

Kyle Jones, the 18-hole leader and one of four 36-hole co-leaders, overcomes 1-over 36 on front nine with bogey-free 4-under 31 on the back nine for 3-under 67 and stands T2 in search of second Korn Ferry Tour win

Chandler Phillips, who stands T2 and four strokes off the lead, is one of three Korn Ferry Tour winners this season to overcome a 54-hole deficit of four-plus strokes; he trailed by four strokes through 54 holes and won by two strokes at the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay

Two 54-hole leaders/co-leaders went on to win 72-hole events on Tour this season (Ben Silverman/The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club; David Skinns/Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club)

Final-round tee times will run in groups of three from 7:05 a.m. through 12:13 p.m. local time off the first tee

Third-Round Lead Notes

16: Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics (most recent: Norman Xiong/2022)

2: Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2023 (Ben Silverman/The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club; David Skinns/Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club)

Adrien Dumont de Chassart (1st/-19)

Follows back-to-back 6-under 64s with third-round 7-under 63, his seventh consecutive round of 67 or better in seven career rounds on the Korn Ferry Tour (66-67-66-65 last week)

Holds the second 54-hole lead of four-plus strokes in a Korn Ferry Tour event this season (Spencer Levin/five strokes at Veritex Bank Championship/won by one stroke)

Leads the field in total birdies with 21 birdies

Has two bogeys this week (par-4 sixth in Rounds 2 and 3) and is one of three players in the field with fewer than three over-par scores this week (Trey Winstead, one bogey; Chandler Phillips, two bogeys)

With a win, projects to climb from No. 22 to No. 4 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List

Won last week’s 2023 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX in his professional and Korn Ferry Tour debut, becoming the 18th player in Tour history and first since Tom Lewis (2019 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance) to win his first Korn Ferry Tour start

Bidding to join Ben Kohles (2012 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship; 2012 Cox Classic) as the only other player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win his first two starts on Tour

In addition to Kohles, the only other player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win twice in their first five career starts on Tour was Kevin Stadler (won second and fourth career starts at 2004 Lake Erie Charity Classc, 2004 Scholarship America Showdown, respectively)

Bidding to become 13th player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win back-to-back events, and to be first to accomplish the feat since 2021 (Cameron Young and Mito Pereira each won back-to-back events in a stretch of four consecutive events)

Made his major championship debut as an amateur at the 2022 U.S. Open (missed cut) a year ago this week

Finished No. 3 in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, earning Korn Ferry Tour membership for the remainder of the 2023 season (win last week earned him fully exempt status for remainder of 2023 and 2024 should he not earn a PGA TOUR card at season’s end)

Played five seasons at University of Illinois (2018-23), earning three consecutive Big Ten Conference Player of the Year awards (2021-23), an All-America First Team selection in 2023 after consecutive All-America Second Team honors in 2021 and 2022

Earned four collegiate victories, with the crown jewel being co-medalist honors at the 2019 Big Ten Championship

One of three players in history to win three consecutive Big Ten Player of the Year awards, joining Luke Donald of Northwestern University (1999, 2000, 2001) and Randy Leen of Indiana University (1996, 1997, 1998)

Represented Belgium at numerous international amateur events, most notably three times at the Eisenhower Trophy (2016, 2018, 2022), and four times at the European Amateur Team Championship (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)

Quotables

Adrien Dumont de Chassart on whether golf feels easy at the moment… “Today was a grind out there. I started good, not hitting many fairways, but then there's a stretch of holes from Nos. 5-9 I just made up‑and‑down like four times in a row. It was more of a grind. I knew the back nine was a little easier and I would have a lot of birdie chances. I'm glad I made those up‑and‑downs early to still be in contention. I just got on a roll, hit more fairways on the back nine and hit it close, so that helped. I'm glad my short game was on point today.”

Dumont de Chassart on whether anything changes tomorrow playing with a lead… “It will be a little different, that's for sure, but I've just got to go out there and just shoot a low score again. There's a lot of people that are going to take it deep tomorrow, so I've just got to do a good job of that tomorrow. If I do that, that should do the job. It's one step at a time.”

Dumont de Chassart on whether knowing several players will go low helps him mentally… “I feel like this week I played a little more conservative than maybe some other guys, maybe because I don't hit it as far. So I'm just going to stick to my game plan and just hit on the right side of the hole and make some putts.”

Notes

Making his professional and Korn Ferry Tour debut, Ricky Castillo (T2/-15), who finished No. 9 in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, is bidding to become the 19th player in history to win Tour debut

Korn Ferry Tour winner Chandler Phillips (T2/-15), who overcame a four-stroke 54-hole deficit to win the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, has three rounds of 66 or better (66-64-65) for the first time in his 27th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour

Korn Ferry Tour winner Kyle Jones (T2/-15) holds his highest 54-hole position since co-leading through 54 holes of the 2020 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, where he earned his first and only Korn Ferry Tour win

Two-time Korn Ferry Tour graduate Martin Flores (T2/-15) stands T2 or higher through 54 holes for the fourth time in 127 career starts on Tour and for the first time since leading the 2016 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (finished T3); his first- and third-round 6-under 64s are his lowest rounds on Tour since final-round 10-under 61 at the 2022 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS last July

Dawson Armstrong (T6/-14), who snapped a streak of eight consecutive missed cuts this week, ties the low round of the week with career-low 8-under 62

Two-time Korn Ferry Tour graduate Brandon Hagy (T6/-14), one of four 36-hole co-leaders, cards 2-under 68 but slips to T6 and five strokes off the lead; he has finishes of T2 (2018) and solo-fourth (2016) in two previous starts at the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics

Conditional member Willie Mack III (T6/-14) ties career-low round on Tour with 6-under 64 (2023 HomeTown Lenders Championship/6-under 64/Round 2), seeking first top-25 in 16th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour

In addition to Castillo, PGA TOUR University Class of 2023 players seeking their first top-25 on Tour are: Patrick Welch (T16/-12), Ross Steelman (T28/-10), who is making his professional and Korn Ferry Tour debut, William Mouw (T43/-9), and Fred Biondi (T64/-7)

Chan Kim (T28/-10), an eight-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour and one of four 36-hole co-leaders, falls to T28 after 2-over 72, tying the second-highest score of Saturday’s third round

Trey Winstead (T28/-10) leads the four open qualifiers who made the 36-hole cut, with the others being Grant Booth (T72/-6), Louis Dobbelaar (T76/-4), and Dodge Kemmer (79th/-1), who attended The Independent School in Wichita and has one victory on an Official World Golf Ranking-recognized tour – a 2022 win at an event co-sanctioned by the Asian Development Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India