Nelson Ledesma holds three-shot lead entering final round of UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH

Third-round leaderboard

Things to know

• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Nelson Ledesma enters the final round with a three-shot lead, bidding for his first victory since the 2019 season
• Ledesma held the outright 36-hole lead by one shot and increased it to three with a third-round 2-under 68
• Max McGreevy sits T2 after 54 holes for the second straight week, bidding for his second ever win on the Tour
• Brent Grant leads all players this week with 18 birdies and claims his best 54-hole position of the season
• Trent Phillips posts the only bogey-free round Saturday and ties the low round of the day with a 4-under 66
• Final-round pairings will run from 6:40 a.m. through 12:50 p.m. ET off the first tee

Third-round lead notes

13 – Third-round leaders/co-leaders to win the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH

• Most recently: Davis Thompson (2022)

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

• Jeremy Paul (The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay), Isaiah Salinda (The Panama Championship) and Tim Widing (Veritex Bank Championship)

Charting the leader

Nelson Ledesma (Leader/8-under)

• Marks his first 54-hole lead/co-lead of the season and second outright 54-hole lead of his career
  • Last solo lead entering the final round was at the 2019 AdventHealth Championship (finished T2)
• Carded a third-round 2-under 68 via three birdies (Nos. 10, 12, 15) against one bogey (par-5 eighth)
• In Friday’s second round, posted the low round of the day with a 6-under 64 to claim the solo 36-hole lead
• Two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour with victories at the 2019 The Ascendant presented by Blue and 2018 LECOM Suncoast Classic
• Has made 10 starts this season, logging just one top-25 finish (T20/LECOM Suncoast Classic)
• Also has three starts on PGA TOUR Americas this year, with his best finish being a T31 at the Bupa Championship at Tulum, where he held the outright 54-hole before carding a final-round 81
• In his sixth season on the Korn Ferry Tour and making his 112th career start this week
• Last season, recorded five top-25s and finished the year No. 78 on the points list
• Best season on the Korn Ferry Tour was 2019 when he posted five top-10 finishes including one win in 23 starts, and finished the year No. 8 on the regular season points list, earning the first PGA TOUR card of his career
  • Made 36 starts on TOUR in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, logging two top-25 finishes
  • Finished No. 192 in the 2020-21 FedExCup Standings and returned to the Korn Ferry Tour
• From 2012-23, made 97 total starts on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and recorded 16 top-10 finishes and one victory
• Hails from Tucuman, Argentina and turned professional in 2007 at just 17 years old

Quotables

Nelson Ledesma on being solo leader and bidding for his first win since 2019… “Every day I was hitting really well. I think that from now on the battle is more mental than technical for the next round. I'm going to be focused more on my mental game than in my technical game because my technical game is totally fine right now. … Four weeks ago I started watching the videos when I won and it showed me that I can do it again, and since that, I started to play much better every week. I start to be more precise with my irons every week. We will see tomorrow what happens.”

Nelson Ledesma on his mindset throughout the third round… “At the beginning of the round I was a little anxious. Even that I was hitting well, I didn't have too many birdie chances. After the bogey that I made on No. 8, I said to myself I have to keep fighting because I know I don't want to lose the opportunity to play tomorrow to win a tournament. Since that it was a big fight to myself to keep focus. After that, the last nine holes, got some birdie chances and I started to make some good putts.”

Third-round notes

• Max McGreevy (T2/5-under) sits T2 entering the final round for the second consecutive week (T2/Visit Knoxville Open/finished T3)
  • McGreevy, who has four top-10 finishes this season and entered the week No. 17 on the points list, is bidding for his second career Korn Ferry Tour title and the first since the 2020 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper
• Braden Thornberry (T2/5-under), who is making the 91st start of his Korn Ferry Tour career this week, enters the final round three shots behind the leader, in search of his first career title
  • Thornberry has sat inside the top 10 after 54 holes in each of the last two tournaments and went on to record finishes of T14 (Visit Knoxville Open) and T15 (AdventHealth Championship)
  • 18-hole co-leaders Trey Winstead (T4/4-under) and Steven Fisk (T4/4-under) both sit 4-under par and four shots behind the leader
  • Winstead, a rookie on the Korn Ferry Tour, has logged two top-10 finishes this season, highlighted by a runner-up at the Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank
  • Fisk sits No. 3 on the points list after earning his first Korn Ferry Tour victory in April at the Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club
• Second-year member Patrick Welch (T4/4-under) is inside the top 10 after 54 holes for the first time this season and is bidding for his first career title
  • Welch joined the Korn Ferry Tour last year after finishing his senior season at the University of Oklahoma ranked No. 8 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2023; in 24 starts on the Tour, Welch has one top-10 finish (T3/2023 Magnit Championship)
• Raleigh native Carter Jenkins (T4/4-under) sits inside the top-10 after 54 holes for the first time this season and is bidding for his first win on the Tour
  • Jenkins is making his sixth ever start at the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH; his first PGA TOUR-sanctioned start came in this event in 2011 at the age of 15 as a sponsor exemption
• · The low round of the day was 4-under 66, which was posted by four players: Brent Grant (T4/4-under), TrentPhillips (T14/2-under), Noah Goodwin (T14/2-under) and Rhein Gibson (T14/2-under)