Wichita golfer surges into lead with one round left at AdventHealth Championship in KC
A golfer from Wichita roared from four back on Saturday to overtake the lead in the $750,000 AdventHealth Championship at Blue Hills Country Club.
With a scorching third-round score of 7-under 65, Sam Stevens holds the 54-hole lead into Sunday’s final round of the annual Korn Ferry Tour event on the par-72 track in Kansas City.
A 25-year-old graduate of Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School and Oklahoma State, Stevens sits 15-under for the tournament. The leader after two rounds, Trevor Cone, shot a 70 on Saturday and is tied with South African MJ Daffue at 14-under. Daffue fired a third-round 67.
Taylor Montgomery and Michael Feagles were tied for fourth at 13-under after shooting a 67 and 69, respectively, followed by Kevin Roy at 12-under.
Former KU golfer Andy Spencer was at 1-under after carding a 71 on Saturday.
Rain that cloaked the KC metro into Saturday morning delayed the start of the third round, but the golfers later played under pleasant skies and cool temperatures.
As for the Wichita native Stevens, he holds his first lead of any kind on the Korn Ferry Tour. He had seven birdies and no bogeys on Saturday.
“Obviously I haven’t been leading or haven’t been in this position yet this year, but I’m excited for tomorrow,” said Stevens, who is playing his first season on the PGA feeder tour. “I was pleased with the way I played. I was a little loose on maybe the last four, five holes, but that’s all right, you’re allowed to hit a bad shot from time to time.”
Before arriving at the Korn Ferry Tour, Stevens played on the All Pro Tour, winning six events and earning $203,692 in 26 starts since 2019. He’s a third-generation pro golfer — dad Charlie played at Oklahoma and TCU, while granddad Johnny played in 30 PGA events, mostly in 1968-69.
Now, the current pro golfer in the Stevens clan — the one leading the AdventHealth Championship this weekend — is finding his own way in the profession. He even made the cut as a qualifier at a PGA event in February, finishing 56th in the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“I’ve been playing well all year — just maybe haven’t been putting as well as I’d like to,” Stevens said. “I’ve been putting better the last two or three weeks, so I think that’s definitely helped me kind of have a little bit more consistent game.”
Stevens definitely has ample experience playing in high-leverage situations like the one he will face on Sunday. He won three straight Kansas Class 5A titles in high school at Kapaun Mt. Carmel and helped OU win an NCAA championship during his time with the Sooners.
Playing so close to home, he even has his own rooting section in the gallery at Blue Hills.
“My wife came up this week and our two boys came up earlier today,” Stevens said, “so it’s been great to get to see family, especially when you’re out of town for as long as some of the stretches we’re on. That’s been good, and it feels good to have people out there cheering you on.”
The AdventHealth Championship, formerly known as the Midwest Classic and KC Golf Classic, opened with a field of 156 hopefuls vying for a total prize pool of $750,000. The field was cut by half after Friday’s round.
The tournament typically takes place at either Blue Hills or the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park, and it’s now been held at Blue Hills three years in a row.
Top performers on the Korn Ferry Tour — such as last year’s winner, Cameron Young — earn promotion to the PGA Tour. Young is now playing on the PGA Tour after earning his tour card with a strong performance on the Korn Ferry Tour last season. He’s currently ranked No. 38 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 14 in the FedExCup Standings.
With another $750,000 up for grabs next month, the Korn Ferry Tour makes its other annual visit to the region for the Wichita Open Benefiting KU Wichita Pediatrics in mid-June at Crestview Country Club in Stevens’ hometown.
Saturday’s third-round scores
Sam Stevens 69-67-65—201
MJ Daffue 65-71-66—202
Trevor Cone 65-67-70—202
Taylor Montgomery 66-70-67—203
Michael Feagles 65-69-69—203
Kevin Roy 68-67-69—204
Kyle Westmoreland 68-67-70—205
Tain Lee 68-71-67—206
Grayson Murray 70-67-70—207
Brandon Crick 69-68-70—207
Akshay Bhatia 71-67-70—208
Alvaro Ortiz 71-67-70—208
Austin Eckroat 69-73-67—209
Augusto Nunez 70-68-71—209
Seonghyeon Kim 69-68-72—209
Alexandre Rocha 67-70-72—209
Jose de Jesus Rodriguez 71-69-70—210
Chandler Blanchet 70-70-70—210
Jeremy Paul 71-69-70—210
Josh Teater 68-70-72—210
Erik Barnes 69-72-70—211
David Kocher 68-71-72—211
Brent Grant 69-74-68—211
Philip Knowles 74-69-68—211
Scott Gutschewski 69-69-73—211
Harry Hall 71-71-70—212
Garett Reband 73-69-70—212
David Lingmerth 71-70-71—212
Quade Cummins 68-75-69—212
Michael Kim 68-70-74—212
Marcelo Rozo 70-67-75—212
Luis Gagne 71-71-71—213
Chase Parker 71-71-71—213
Will Gordon 75-67-71—213
Tanner Gore 71-70-72—213
Matt McCarty 69-74-70—213
Christopher Petefish 70-70-73—213
Paul Haley II 72-71-70—213
John Chin 72-72-69—213
John Augenstein 68-74-72—214
A.J. Crouch 69-73-72—214
Peter Kuest 72-70-72—214
Thomas Walsh 71-70-73—214
Nick Voke 70-71-73—214
George Cunningham 73-71-70—214
Tag Ridings 75-69-70—214
Jake Staiano 72-72-70—214
Tee-K Kelly 73-71-70—214
Luke Guthrie 71-71-73—215
Martin Flores 73-70-72—215
Ryan McCormick 73-66-76—215
Andrew Yun 72-71-72—215
T.J. Vogel 71-73-71—215
Andy Spencer 77-67-71—215
Nicolas Echavarria 68-74-74—216
Brandon Harkins 71-71-74—216
Zecheng Dou 70-73-73—216
Daniel Chopra 71-72-73—216
Michael Visacki 72-70-75—217
Nelson Ledesma 74-69-74—217
Cody Gribble 73-70-74—217
Xinjun Zhang 72-71-74—217
Spencer Ralston 71-73-73—217
Mark Anguiano 71-73-73—217
Blake Dyer 74-70-73—217
John VanDerLaan 71-71-76—218
Tom Whitney 70-72-76—218
KK Limbhasut 73-70-75—218
Jonathan Brightwell 70-73-75—218
Martin Contini 70-73-75—218
Rafael Campos 73-71-74—218
Steven Fisk 73-71-74—218
Sean O’Hair 73-71-75—219
Albin Choi 71-72-77—220
Alex Chiarella 72-68-80—220
Ted Potter, Jr. 73-70-77—220
Conner Godsey 71-73-77—221
Zack Sucher 72-72-79—223
