Nicholas Lindheim wins The Ascendant presented by Blue for third career Korn Ferry Tour victory

BERTHOUD, Colorado – Nicholas Lindheim is heading back to the PGA TOUR in style.

Making his fifth and final start in preparation to return to the TOUR, where he will eventually play via a medical extension, Lindheim posted a bogey-free 6-under 66, one of four scores of 66 or better in Sunday’s final round at TPC Colorado, and closed out a two-stroke victory over runner-up Max Greyserman at The Ascendant presented by Blue.

Lindheim’s victory is his third on the Korn Ferry Tour, with previous wins coming at the 2016 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and 2017 DAP Championship. Sunday’s victory also marked the fifth PGA TOUR-sanctioned win for Lindheim, who also won twice on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica (wins in 2014 and 2015) while playing the Korn Ferry Tour.

“It’s satisfying to know I still have good golf ahead of me,” Lindheim said. “You do a lot of questioning in this game, even when you are at the top of your game. With that being said, I feel like I’ve still got some more gas in the tank.”

With a winning total of 20-under 268, Lindheim shattered the 72-hole tournament scoring record of 17-under 271 established by last year’s winner, Zecheng Dou. En route to a career-high runner-up finish and total score of 18-under 270, Greyserman also beat the previous 72-hole tournament scoring record.

“Satisfying,” Lindheim said of his winning feeling. “I’ve taken a lot of time away from golf with my injury to be with my family and I think that’s really put me in a good place mentally. When I’ve played, I’m excited to be out here instead of just going week in and week out. I think that’s really paid dividends.”

Lindheim, an 18-hole co-leader and the outright 36-hole leader earlier this week, became the first 18-hole leader or co-leader to win a Korn Ferry Tour event this season, and he became only the third 36-hole leader or co-leader to accomplish the feat this year.

Lindheim’s final round saw him outlast 54-hole leader Alejandro Tosti, who reached 20-under par with five birdies in the first seven holes only to be undone by a double bogey at the par-3 eighth and bogeys at the par-4 10th, 12th, and par-5 13th.

As Tosti padded his 54-hole lead, Lindheim, playing in the penultimate pairing, pitched in for eagle from just off the green at the drivable par-4 third. Lindheim followed the hole-out eagle with birdies at the par-4 sixth, 10th, and 12th, and he solidified a two-stroke lead with another birdie at the par-5 15th.

“I usually am a leaderboard watcher, but I knew I was playing well and I saw Alejandro was at 19-under after I was just finishing No. 8,” Lindheim said. “After I saw that, I was like, ‘Alright, well, I’m just going to try to plug in and try to finish strong and see what happens. The only time I looked at the leaderboard (on No. 18) was after I hit my putt up to eight inches and realized I had a two-shot lead, and I stopped breathing.”

In four previous starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, Lindheim posted three top-10s, with the highlight being a solo-third three weeks ago at the Compliance Solutions Championship, and a T27. The win moves Lindheim all the way up to No. 8 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

Those four starts and this week’s win were in preparation for Lindheim’s return to the PGA TOUR, as the California native and Satellite Beach, Florida resident regained TOUR membership via the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Last fall, however, Lindheim only made two starts on TOUR before a back injury derailed his season.

“I was in Bermuda and I couldn’t even walk, so I thought I was going to need surgery for sure,” said Lindheim, who earned or retained PGA TOUR membership via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016, 2017, and 2018. “With the help of my physical therapist, and just really staying off of it was probably the most helpful thing. You just never know. You never know. When I took four months off from not playing at all… you can’t ever predict the future.”

While it has yet to be determined how many PGA TOUR starts Lindheim will make via medical extension next season, there is one thing he knows for sure: he’s teeing it up on TOUR at next week’s Barracuda Championship. It will mark Lindheim’s first TOUR start since a missed cut at the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open.

“I know I can play well at the biggest stage,” Lindheim said. “The crowds out here this week are as big as a TOUR event. That’s probably one of my biggest things is the crowds, and dealing with the pressure and just knowing that I can get it done.”

Final-Round Notes

Nicholas Lindheim (1st/-20) becomes the second winner of The Ascendant presented by Blue who trailed through 54 holes (Tag Ridings/2021)

In nine previous rounds at TPC Colorado prior to this week, Lindheim’s lowest score was 4-under 68 (2022/Round 4); he broke 68 in three of the four rounds this week

Making 83rd career start on the Korn Ferry Tour, Max Greyserman (2nd/-18), who finished No. 46 on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and only made seven starts in 2022 due to injury, closes in 6-under 66 for career-high finish, topping previous career-high finish of T4/2021 Visit Knoxville Open

Rookie Parker Coody (3rd/-17), who won on PGA TOUR Canada last year and finished No. 13 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, posts career-high finish in 12th career start on Tour, topping previous career-high finish of T4/Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics

Rookie Alejandro Tosti (T4/-16), who held the outright 54-hole lead and broke the 54-hole tournament scoring record at 15-under 201, logs his Tour-leading seventh top-10 of the season, as well as his fourth finish of T4/solo-fourth this season (4th/AdventHealth Championship; T4/Visit Knoxville Open; T4/Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics)

Tosti also boasts a T10 on the PGA TOUR this season (Mexico Open at Vidanta)

Tosti finishes the week with five total eagles (all from first three rounds), tying a Korn Ferry Tour single-tournament record previously established by six other players

- Chris Smith, 1997 Omaha Classic

- Bradley Iles, 2010 Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron

- Michael Arnaud, 2018 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX

- Sam Burns, 2018 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank

- Hank Lebioda, 2020 The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village

- Joey Gaber, 2020 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank

Rookie Tim Widing (T4/-16) cards 2-under 70 to post his fourth top-10 of the season and his second T4 finish in the last three events

Kevin Dougherty (T6/-14) and rookie Adrien Dumont de Chassart (T6/-14) share the low round of the day with matching 7-under 65s

Dumont de Chassart (T6/-14), who won his professional and Korn Fery Tour debut earlier this year at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX following a No. 3 finish in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, becomes the second player of the week (Alejandro Tosti) to birdie the par-4 17th and 18th in the same round

Dumont de Chassart’s results from his first four Korn Ferry Tour starts: Win/P2/T8/T6