PGA Tour rookie Trevor Cone carded a 9-under-par 63 to seize a one-stroke lead at the Barbasol Championship on Saturday in Nicholasville, Ky.
Cone, who is No. 450 in the Official World Golf Ranking, recorded nine birdies in a bogey-free round at rainy Keene Trace Golf Club to sit at 17-under 199 for the tournament. He holds a one-stroke lead over Lucas Glover (69) and Vincent Norman (67) of Sweden.
“Just got rolling,” the 30-year-old Cone said of a start in which he collected five birdies on his first eight holes. “Just played smart, fairways, greens, not get too aggressive. Just hoped the putter came alive and today it did. Hopefully, it continues tomorrow.”
Cone’s best finish in his 20 previous starts is a T23 at this year’s AT&T Byron Nelson.
Glover, the first- and second-round leader, notched his 11th straight round in the 60s. The 2009 U.S. Open champion has four career wins on the PGA Tour. He went 10 years between his last two wins (2011 and 2021).
“These young guys aren’t like when I was young. They’re ready to win now. There’s no learning curve anymore,” Glover said. “So, it’s going to be all (that) all of us want tomorrow. It’s going to be a knock-down drag-out and it should be fun.”
Frenchman Adrien Saddier shot a 67 on Saturday to reside in fourth place at 15-under. He is trying to become the first player since Jim Benepe (1988 Beatrice Western Open) to win his first PGA Tour start.
England’s Nathan Kimsey (67) and South Africa’s Jayden Schaper (68) are tied for fifth place at 14-under.
The Barbasol is staged as an alternate event opposite the Genesis Scottish Open, where most of the best players in the world are tuning up for next week’s Open Championship.
–Field Level Media
