A First-Round 66 Puts Professional Leach on Top Leaderboard at 108th Minnesota State Open
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A birdie on his final hole Tuesday lifted professional Tyler Leach to an opening-round 4-under 66 at Rochester Golf and Country...
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Nick Hunter : August 31, 2024
BRAINERD, Minn. - Leading the field after 54 four holes of play on two occasions at PGA Tour Americas events this season, Denmark's Frederik Kjettrup has gone on to victory in both instances.
The 24-year-old rookie finds himself in familiar territory again after carding a 5-under 65 Saturday at Cragun's Legacy Course during the third round of the 2024 CRMC Championship presented by Gertens, taking a four-stroke lead over Neal Shipley to Sunday's final round.
“Played a little better on the back nine—played pretty well on the front, too, but just didn't really make the putts,” said Kjettrup, who carded nine consecutive pars to begin his round Saturday before playing his final nine holes in 5-under. “It was windy, and the pins were tucked a bit, so it was hard to get it close.
“Four-shot lead—you never know what's going to happen. There's a lot of good players in the field, and you have to go out and make birdies. You can't make par and expect to win.”
Tied with Shipley after his first ten holes Saturday, Kjettrup began to make his move during his back nine with back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th to reach 18-under for the championship.
Converting his fourth birdie of the round at the 16th, Kjettrup reached the par-5 18th in two, and two-putted for birdie from 40 feet to post a 5-under 65 to take a four-stroke lead at 20- under 190 with 18 holes to play.
“Golf is back and forth, but it was nice to get that strong back-nine finish,” the former Florida State University golfer said. “Better feeling going into tomorrow with a bit more confidence.”
Making his PGA Tour Americas debut at The Beachlands Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist, Kjettrup carded a 21-under 259 to claim a one-stroke victory, and then followed it by winning the ATB Classic by three strokes the following week.
Kjettrup currently sits third in the Fortinet Cup standings with only the Fortinet Cup Championship remaining on the schedule next week.
A win Sunday or finishing inside the top-10 of the final Fortinet Cup standings would earn Kjettrup a promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2025 season.
Shipley, who became just the sixth player to earn low-amateur honors at both The Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open earlier this season, played his front nine in 5-under Saturday, including an eagle at the fourth, to quickly narrow the margin behind Fjettrup.
Pulling even with Kjettrup with his birdie at the seventh, Shipley kept pace by converting his birdie chance at the 11th to reach 16-under for the championship.
The former Ohio State University golfer gave back a stroke with a three-putt bogey at the 12th, but finished his round with a short birdie at the 18th to post a second-round 64, trailing by four ahead of Sunday's final round.
“Started early with a great shot from a fairway bunker on [No. 1], made a putt and made a putt from off the green at two. From there, we played solid on the way in for 5-under,” Shipley said following his round Saturday. “I was in a great position going into the back nine, but didn't really keep the momentum going, but played solid—didn't get some of the putts to fall.
“I hit a lot of good shots, hit a couple not-so-good ones. I'm playing really well and if we can get a couple more of those to drop, we could definitely shoot a really low one tomorrow.”
A 4-under 66 helped 2023 Minnesota State Open and Minnesota Golf Association Amateur champion Caleb VanArragon move into a share of 10th place Saturday, 10 strokes back of the lead.
“I was really happy with the round—I got off to a bit of a rough start, but the front nine is so hard, especially with the wind. I was happy to get through it in 1-over par,” VanArragon said Saturday. “I knew the back nine was playing a little easier because the first five holes, the wind was straight [downwind]. I was able to hit wedge into all those greens, and the holes into the wind were short par-3s and a short par-5.
"Obviously, it's my first time playing the weekend in one of these, but I'm just trying to have low expectations and think of it as just another golf tournament. This summer, I've played more golf tournaments than I ever have during a summer in my life. I really love playing golf, and it's fun knowing practicing and playing golf is my job now.”
This year's Minnesota State Open winner, Carson Herron, bounced back from an early bogey to start his third round Saturday, carding a 2-under 68 to finish in a tie for 15th through 54 holes.
Former University of Minnesota golfer Ben Warian posted a 3-over 73 during his round Saturday and he will begin the final round tied for 51st at 2-under 208.
The final round of the 2024 CRMC Championship presented by Gertens is scheduled to begin at 8:05 a.m. at Cragun's Legacy Course.
THE 2024TH CRMC CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY GERTENS
CRAGUN'S LEGACY COURSE
BRAINERD, MINN.
7,001 YARDS, PAR 70
SATURDAY'S THIRD ROUND RESULTS
1. Frederik Kjettrup, Denmark, 62-63-65—190
2. Neal Shipley, United States, 63-67-64—194
3. Joey Vrzich, United States, 67-63-65—195
T4. Bryce Lewis, United States, 67-66-64—197
T4. Petr Hruby, Czechia, 68-66-63—197
T6. Rodolfo Cazaubon, Mexico, 66-69-64—199
T6. Connor Godsey, United States, 65-68-66—199
T6. Chase Sienkiewicz, United States, 63-70-66—199
T6. Taylor Funk, United States, 64-65-70—199
T10. Ryan Burnett, United States, 67-68-65—200
T10. CALEB VANARRAGON, BLAINE, MINN., 67-67-66—200
T10. John Keefer, United States, 66-67-67—200
T10. David Perkins, United States, 64-68-68—200
T10. Jay Card III, United States, 63-68-69—200
T15. CARSON HERRON, DEEPHAVEN, MINN., 66-67-68—201
T51. BEN WARIAN, STILLWATER, MINN., 66-69-73—208
MC. JACK HIEMENZ, BLAINE, MINN., 67-73—140
MC. HENRY MAY, EDINA, MINN., 72-69—141
MC. DEREK HITCHNER, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., 69-72—141
MC. THOMAS LONGBELLA, UNIV. OF MINN., 76-69—145
MC. THOMAS LEHMAN, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ., 75-70—145
MC. BEN SIGEL, DEEPHAVEN, MINN., 78-71—149
For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/americas/leaderboard
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