Minnesotans in the Mix After Day Three at CRMC Championship in Brainerd

  BRAINERD, Minn. – Teeing off the third round of the 2026 CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center Saturday at Cragun’s Legacy Courses with a four-stroke advantage, PGA Tour Americas rookie Justin Biwer posted a 5-under 65 to move one step closer to his first victory of the season.

When the final round gets underway Sunday, Biwer, who entered the week 43rd in the points race, will take a three-shot lead over fellow Americans Tom Fischer and David Perkins.

“There's a lot of good, I think that's pretty clear,” Biwer said following his round Saturday. “You can look at a few holes and pretty much say, ‘What happened there?’ It's a giant question mark. My goal today was just to stay calm, stay patient, try to give myself as much of a cushion as I possibly could going as tomorrow.

“To be honest, I have not been in this position before, but I feel like with, being pro now a year, I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt, obviously with college as well. But just stay in my own head, can't let anything get to me, whether it's good or bad, just keep rolling with what I have and try to play good 18 holes tomorrow and see where that stacks up.”

Biwer tied a course record during the second round Friday, shooting 9-under 61 despite carding a pair of double-bogeys.

On Saturday, Biwer played his first 13 holes in 4-under before taking double-bogey at the 15th, dropping back to 16-under for the championship. The 24-year-old native of San Diego, Calif., bounced back with three birdies over his final four holes to hold a three-shot advantage at 19-under 191.

“It's a testament to myself in that, you know, not to get down when something goes wrong. I was pretty upset when I went back to that tee at 14,” Biwer said after losing his tee shot late in the round Saturday. “I'm just glad that I've been able to stay in a good head space and, you know, next shot’s a new shot, whether or not it's putter, tee shot or whatever. Those couple birdies I had after 14 really big for, you know, my confidence as well.”

Former University of Minnesota golfer Ben Warian fired his best round of the championship Saturday, a 6-under 64 to sit within four shots of the lead ahead of Sunday’s final 18 holes of play.

“Overall, solid day. Gave myself plenty of good looks on the greens today. Hit a lot of good irons and wedges,” Warian said Saturday. “I've been fortunate to take advantage of my good week so far and definitely looking to do a little bit more than just that tomorrow.”

Opening the third round in a share of eighth place, Warian used a string of three birdies and an eagle to springboard his round near the top of the leaderboard. Slowed by a bogey at the 12th, Warian responded with three straight birdies beginning at the 15th on his way to a 66.

Looking to slip inside the top-60 to reach the Dominican Republic Tour Championship in October, Warian said his game is not far off from putting himself in position to win any given week.

“It's been weird, you know, a lot of missed cuts by one where I felt like I haven't really played that bad. Just get some weird things happening or a bad swing at the wrong time,” he said. “The game’s felt really close all season, I would say, and it feels like I've been building on a constant trend upwards in terms of what I've been working on and how I've been feeling.

“One week at a time, one day at a time, one shot at a time, as cliche as that is, it's all you can do. It's a crazy game, a ton of good players out here and you have to control what you can control in the moment as best you can.”

Entering the week 67th in the standings during his rookie season, Warian has made seven cuts in 15 starts, with a pair of top-10 finishes.

Former North Dakota State University golfer Andrew Israelson posted a 66 on Saturday to remain in contention at 12-under 198. He will begin the final round seven shots off the lead.

“Been playing well this summer, kind of just needed to sharpen up a little bit for this week and so far, so good,” Israelson said Saturday. “Not getting out of my comfort zone, just kind of doing what I usually do. So, it's been nice to throw up some good scores and be kind of around for the weekend.”

Israelson opened with a 5-under 65 Thursday and followed it with a 67 during the second round Saturday.

The 28-year-old native of Staples, Minn., bogeyed his first hole Saturday, but bounced back with five birdies over his remaining 17 holes to finish his first 54 holes in a share of 13th at 12-under 198.

“I think my attitude has been really strong and the rest of my game is pretty much always how it is,” Israelson said. “I've been driving it solid, keeping the ball out in front of me, but my short game's been just superior to how it's been the rest of the summer.”

Looking to build on his 28th-place finish a year ago, Israelson has been getting a boost from a large contingency of fans.

“The support from the Lakes Area community in a whole is really great,” he said. “There are guys that played on my high school team out watching me, there's guys that I played with from around Lakes Area when I was growing up that I came out and supported, so it's just really cool.

“Sometimes you forget when you don't live in Staples anymore, you don't live in the area, and how many people are supporting you—talking about it kind of gets me, not emotional, but just kind of gets my goosebumps going a little bit.”

Former Minnetonka High School standout Gunnar Broin carded a 2-under 68 Saturday and will begin Sunday’s final round in a share of 22nd at 10-under 200.

The final round of the 2026 CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center will begin at 7:50 a.m. Sunday.