John Pak takes seven-stroke lead into final round of Compliance Solutions Championship

Things to Know

• John Pak takes a seven-stroke lead into the final round of the Compliance Solutions Championship; largest 54-hole lead on the Korn Ferry Tour this season
• Braden Thornberry cards a 7-under 65 to match Pak for the low round of the day
• 13 players head into the final round T9 or better
• Brian Campbell, Harry Higgs and Ryan Gerard were the only players bogey-free in the third round
• Final round tee times will run from 6:40 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. local time

Third-Round Lead Notes

0 - Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Compliance Solutions Championship

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

Charting the Leader

John Pak (Leader/-21)

• Cards a 7-under 65 to take a seven-stroke lead and his first 54-hole lead/co-lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career
  • Largest lead by a 54-hole leader on Tour this season (previous; 4-strokes, Trey Winstead/Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank/P2)
  • Tied for the second-largest 54-hole lead in Korn Ferry Tour history (six times)
• 21-under 195 is the lowest 54-hole score in the history of the Compliance Solutions Championship (Previous; Tim Widing/18-under 198)
• Set the 36-hole low score at the Compliance Solutions Championship with a 14-under 130 (previously; Alan Wagner, Davis Chatfield, Tim Widing/12-under 132/2023)
• Held first 36-hole lead/co-lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career after the second round
• Making his 28th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour
• Owns five made cuts in 11 starts this season with three top-25 finishes and a top-10
  • Best finish; Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club/T3
• 15 career starts on the PGA TOUR with three made cuts
• In 2023, made 10 starts on PGA TOUR Canada, now PGA TOUR Americas, with seven made cuts, including a win at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Brandt
• Finished No. 1 in the inaugural PGA TOUR University Class of 2021
• Finished as Low Amateur at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which was his first major championship appearance
• Played collegiately for four seasons at Florida State University (2017-21), winning eight times as an individual and garnering All-America honors all four seasons (first-team selection in 2019 and 2021, second-team honoree in 2020, and third-team selection in 2018)
• Swept the three NCAA Division I national player of the year awards -- Jack Nicklaus Award, Ben Hogan Award, Fred Haskins Award -- in 2021, becoming the sixth player to sweep those honors since the creation of all three awards
• Competed on the winning 2019 and 2021 Walker Cup teams

Quotables

John Pak on his 7-under 65… “Just kind of the same thing. I'm actually, I'm hitting it a lot better today than I was the last two days, kind of just keeping the ball in play. It was a little windier, greens were a little firmer. So staying with the same strategy, just managing my game well, trying to hit fairways and greens, give myself looks and hopefully a couple drop and that's kind of what happened today, which is nice.”

Pak on his quick start with birdies on four of his first five holes… “I don't know if it really did anything. I kind of tried to keep the same mindset, just stick with the process. I started working with a sports psychologist and that's all they talk about is process, game management and just, you know, letting things go if things don't go my way. That's kind of what I'm working on, not focusing too much on what scores I'm making.”

Pak on having experience winning on PGA TOUR Canada… “Yeah, I think there's some psychology to it where that if you've been in that position, your body kind of naturally knows what to do, so I think that's a big positive. Like I said, I'm not thinking about that too much, just really focusing on my process.”

Notes

• Braden Thornberry (2nd/-14) matches Pak for the day’s low round with a 7-under 65 to climb 28 positions into solo second
  • Made eight birdies, including four straight from hole Nos. 2-5, against one bogey (No. 16)
  • Thornberry eyes his fifth top-25 finish in his last six starts and his first top-10 of the season (previous best; Visit Knoxville Open/T14)
• Second-year member Davis Chatfield (T3/-13), coming off his best finish of the season at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics (T6), turns in a 4-under 68
• Paul Peterson (T3/-13) posts his 11th consecutive round under-par with a 2-under 70 and enters the final round in T3
  • Peterson, who finished No. 61 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points list, looks for his first top-10 finish of the season and first since the 2023 Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank (T10)
• BYU Cougar Cooper Jones (T3/-13), who is playing on a sponsor exemption this week, finished his third round 1-under par after dropping a shot on the short par-4 18th for his second bogey of the day; holed three birdies on the day (Nos. 5, 11, 13)
  • Jones can earn a start at next week’s Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS with a top-25 finish
• Ada, Oklahoma native Andre Metzger (T9/-12) is in position T9 after a third round 4-under 68; his best 54-hole position in a Korn Ferry Tour event since the 2012 AdventHealth Championship (T8)
  • Recorded second-made cut of the season in sixth start
  • Aims for the best finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career (2019 Chitimacha Lousiana Open presented by MISTRAS/T19)
• 2024 Korn Ferry Tour winners Jeremy Paul (T9/-12) and Steven Fisk (T9/-12) both card 1-under 71s in the third round and head into the final round inside the top-10
  • Paul earned his first career Korn Ferry Tour victory in the 2024 season opener at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandal Emerald Bay
  • Fisk, winner of the Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, looks to add his fourth top-10 and sixth top-25 finish of the season
• Former Oklahoma Sooner Blane Hale Jr. (T14/-11) posted a 5-under 67 on Saturday, going bogey-free on the back nine with four birdies (Nos. 10, 12, 13, 17); made six birdies in total against one bogey
  • Hale Jr., making his third start of the season on the Korn Ferry Tour, made his first cut of the season this week
  • Earned his first PGA TOUR card with a third-place finish at final stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry; he had never previously held membership on any PGA TOUR-sanctioned tour
• Three bogey-free rounds: Brian Campbell (T14/-11), Harry Higgs (T14/-11) and Ryan Gerard (T22/-10)
  • Higgs, who became the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win back-to-back events via a playoff earlier this season, dropped in five birdies en route to his bogey-free 5-under 67
  • Gerard, who claimed his first career Korn Ferry Tour victory at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD Synnex earlier this month, turned in his sixth bogey-free round of the year with a 2-under 70
• Open qualifier Ryan Hall (T26/-9), making his eighth start of the season, made five birdies (Nos. 3, 7, 8, 10, 11) against two bogeys (Nos. 13, 17) en route to a 3-under 69
  • The Knoxville, Tennessee native began the 2024 season with conditional Korn Ferry Tour status by way of a T101 finish at final stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry