Thomas Walsh takes outright 54-hole lead at Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard

Things to Know

• Thomas Walsh takes the outright 54-hole lead at 20-under following a bogey-free 8-under 63 in the third round
• 36-hole leader Aldrich Potgieter will enter the final round six strokes off the lead after a 2-over 73 on Saturday
• Three players sit T2 at 17-under par and three strokes off the lead; Kevin Velo, Trevor Cone and Brian Campbell
• A total of 10 players are within five shots of the lead
• Mexico’s Emilio Gonzalez is the low Latin American player through 54 holes at 16-under
• Gonzalez turned in a 4-under 67, making five birdies against one bogey that came on the first hole of the round
• All players competed on the Lagos Course in the third round and will do so in the final round
• Tee times will run from 7:05 a.m. to 1:07 p.m. Eastern time off the first tee

Third-Round Lead Notes

7 - Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard

2 - Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024

Thomas Walsh (Leader / -20)

• Posted his second bogey-free round of the week with an 8-under 63, matching his career-low (2022 Lecom Classic, round one) and the low round of the week on the Lagos Course with Noah Goodwin
  • Made six birdies (Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 13, 17) and an eagle on the par 5 18th
• Opened the week with a bogey-free 8-under 62 on the Pacos Course and followed it with a 4-under 67 in the second round on the Lagos Course
• One hole of bogey-or-worse through 54 holes
• Bidding for first Korn Ferry Tour Victory of his career
• Previous best finish in the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard was a solo 69th in 2022
• Marks the second 54-hole lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career; previously the Price Cutter Championship presented by Dr. Pepper where he shared an overnight lead with Pierceson Coody and Chandler Phillips
• Made the cut in two of three events to begin the season; best finish came in the form of a T14 in the season opener at The Bahamas Great Exumas Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay
• In his third season on the Korn Ferry Tour he has made 43 career starts with four top-10s and a runner-up
  • Best career finish was a T2 last season at the Price Cutter Championship presented by Dr. Pepper
• With a 54-hole score of 192 he breaks his personal previous best 54-hole score of 195 and the previous record at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard of 195 set by John VanderLaan in 2020
• Turned professional in 2019 and played PGA TOUR Latinoamérica during the 2020 season where he logged three top-25 finishes in seven starts
• Made six starts on PGA TOUR Canada in 2022, recording four finishes inside the top three
• Played collegiately at the University of Virginia for four seasons (2015-19), winning two individual titles, including the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, earning 2018 All-American third-team recognition

Quotables

Thomas Walsh on his bogey-free 8-under 63… “Yeah, I've been playing well for a while now. I'm just hitting it well. Kind of got something going with my putting three weeks ago and just been rolling, keeping it really simple. Got a new ball in play this week that's a little spinier from Titleist, it's quite a bit better. Everything's kind of firing on all cylinders.”

Walsh on only one bogey through 54 holes… “Yeah, I've driven it phenomenally. I think I've really been in position every single hole. I've made a lot of putts. I haven't made them all, but I've really been pretty stress free for the most part for the last 54 holes.”

Kevin Velo on scoring better on the Lagos Course this week… “Honestly, I actually got impatient yesterday on the short golf course and it's really an easier golf course so you can go really low, and when you're not going low you can get frustrated. Out here I know that birdies can come if you're patient with it, so that's what I'm doing all week.”

Velo on going back to his old putter… “Yeah. I mean, I know that I had success with it and I shot a bunch of low rounds with it and I know that. So being able to just work on things instead of changing things all the time is what I'm going to do this year. I even told the Ping rep I'm not changing any equipment this year. I think that's going to be one of my things is just work on things instead of changing things.”

Notes:

• Kevin Velo (T2 / -17), Trevor Cone (T2 / -14) and Brian Campbell (T2 / -14) are in a three-way tie for second at 14-under
  • Velo matched his opening round 7-under 64 with another in the third round at Country Club de Bogotá; previous best career 54-hole position was 19th earlier this season at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay
  • Cone, a two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner, carded a 6-under 65 in the third round after posting rounds of 63 (Pacos) and 67 (Lagos) the first two days
  • Campbell carded his second bogey-free round of the week with a 5-under 66; his first came in the opening round in the form of a 9-under 61 (Pacos)
• Emilio Gonzalez (T5 / -16) is the low Latin American player through 54 holes of competition after a 4-under 67
  • The 26-year-old birdied four of his last five holes of the day with a total of five on the back nine
  • Gonzalez looks to improve upon his best career finish; T16 at The Panama Championship last week
• Kyle Westmoreland (T12 / -14) is T12 at 14-under and seeking his third top-five finish of the season; no other player on Tour has more than one top-five
  • Westmoreland posted his best round of the tournament in the third round with a 7-under 64
  • The Air Force Academy graduate opened the week with a 4-under 66 on the Pacos Course and followed it up with a 3-under 68 on the Lagos Course in the second round
• 23-year-old Noah Goodwin (T12 / -14) matched Walsh for the low round of the tournament on Country Club de Bogotá’s Lagos Course with a bogey-free 8-under 63 to get to 14-under overall
  • Goodwin rolled in six birdies (Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 16) on the day and made an eagle on the par 5 18th to climb 40 spots; the most by any player in the third round
• Ricardo Celia (T12 / -14) finished the day with a 1-under 70, making three birdies (Nos. 3, 16, 18) against two bogeys
  • The Last Colombian to finish inside the top 10 in the event was Camilo Villegas in 2020 with a T4
  • Celia’s best finish in this event and any Korn Ferry Tour event was a T25 in 2019
• Kaito Onishi (T12 / -14), making his first start of the season on the Korn Ferry Tour, moved to 14-under for the tournament after a 6-under 65 in the third round
  • Onishi opened the week with a 6-under 64 on the Pacos Course and followed it up Friday with a 2-under 69 on the Lagos Course
  • He finished No. 100 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List to earn conditional status for this season; he was the third alternate into this week’s field
• Second-year member Mason Andersen (T20 / -13) bounced back on the Lagos Course with a bogey-free 7-under 64 after a 1-over 72 on the course to begin the tournament
  • Andersen made the cut on the number with a 7-under 63 in the second round on the Pacos course
• There were five players were bogey-free Saturday: Martin Trainer (T12 / -14), Andersen, Campbell, Goodwin and Walsh