Wichita golfer Sam Stevens takes control of Wichita Open lead on Korn Ferry Tour
When Sam Stevens decided to enter the field of this week’s Wichita Open, the Wichita native viewed his return to Crestview Country Club as a free roll.
It was essentially an off week for the PGA Tour member. He could have spent it practicing on his own time or he could sneak a trip back to his hometown and play on his home course in a Korn Ferry Tour event he used to desperately want to play.
Those unique circumstances have unlocked the best version of the Kapaun Mt. Carmel graduate, who fired his second straight 7-under round of 63 on Saturday to open up a 3-shot lead, at 18-under overall, entering Sunday’s championship round.
Stevens will tee off at 11:35 a.m. Sunday in the leader’s group, which also includes Patrick Cover (15-under) and Brandon Crick (14-under).
“I’m really not playing with a whole lot of pressure,” Stevens said. “I don’t feel like I have anything to prove. I just got to go out and try to keep the pedal down. The downside of playing poorly isn’t really there for me, so obviously that’s freed me up and allowed me to play some great golf.”
After tallying six more birdies (plus an eagle) on Saturday, Stevens leads the tournament field with 22 birdies through his first 54 holes.
Some of that certainly has to do with his familiarity with the course (Stevens is a Crestview member), but the statistics from the first three days of the tournament also reveal the level of his play.
Stevens has feasted with his driver all week, ranking eighth with an average distance of 332.7 yards, hit 72% of greens in regulation, which ranks 12th, and also ranks 12th in putting. In other words, every aspect of his game is working.
“There are birdies out there, but if you try to force it on a hole that maybe isn’t a birdie hole or when you’re out of position, you’re going to make a mistake when you don’t have to,” Stevens said. “Maybe people perceive what I’m doing as aggressive because I’m hitting driver every hole, but I’ve played out here a lot and I’m not too worried about where the driver is going to end up on most of these holes.”
Stevens made the most mistakes in his opening round on Thursday when three bogeys put a damper on a 4-under round of 66, which was tied for 15th place. He made birdie on his first six holes of Friday’s round and surged all the way to take sole possession of the lead, but a double-bogey on No. 18 dropped him to 1 shot behind the leaders and in a tie for third place.
It didn’t take long for the former Oklahoma State star to return atop the leaderboard, as he reached the 566-yard, par-5 No. 2 in 2 shots and drained a 19-foot eagle putt. He followed that with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the front nine to take control.
Stevens’ steady play continued on the back nine, as he collected birdies on No. 10, No. 12 and No. 16 to open up a 5-shot lead at one point. But another late mistake, this time a bogey on the par-3 No. 17, curbed the round’s momentum.
But Stevens has a 3-shot lead entering Sunday and has a chance to add his first PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament title since 2021 when he claimed the Colombia Classic championship on PGA Tour Latinoamerica. Winning a title in his hometown would add to what already has been an illustrious career for the Wichita golfer.
“I think I’ll definitely be nervous,” Stevens said. “Hopefully (Cover and Crick) can play great, I would love for it to be a battle, but I wouldn’t mind if I got off to a hot start and pulled away from the field.
“I don’t want to minimize what this tournament means to me. I’m playing freely because the downside isn’t there, but if I win it, it would be a special thing that I’ll look back on for a long time. We’re obviously a long ways from that, but I’m excited for tomorrow and hopefully it will be a good day.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2024 at 6:07 PM.
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