Johnny Keefer holds third-round lead at Veritex Bank Championship

Charting the leader (stats entering week)

Johnny Keefer (first/-23)

• Follows 10-under 61 in the second round with 5-under 66 in the third round to total 23-under 190, tying the third-lowest opening 54-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history (most recent: 190/Tim Widing/2024 Veritex Bank Championship/Won)
• Held a one-stroke lead through 36 holes at 18-under 124, which made him the eighth player in Korn Ferry Tour history to total 124 or lower on the opening 36 holes of a tournament
• Previously broke the Korn Ferry Tour record for lowest 36-hole score (any consecutive rounds) at the 2025 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, where he totaled 19-under 122 (61-61) in Rounds 2 and 3; he is now the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history with multiple 36-hole scores (any consecutive rounds) of 124 or lower
• Holds his second 54-hole lead/co-lead in what is his ninth career start on Tour (previous: 1st/The Panama Championship/finished T2)
• Leads the field with 26 combined birdies and eagles (24 birdies, two eagles)
• Earned fully exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2025 season by finishing No. 1 in the 2024 Fortinet Cup standings on PGA TOUR Americas; in 10 starts last season, made all 10 cuts and posted nine top-10s, including four runner-up finishes and a victory at the 2024 Manitoba Open
• Claimed the final spot in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking and finished No. 25 to earn exempt membership into the North America Swing of PGA TOUR Americas
• Played five seasons (2019-24) at Baylor University where he recorded seven top-three finishes, highlighted by two victories (2021/Rice Intercollegiate, 2023/Valero Texas Collegiate); topped PGA TOUR member Jimmy Walker’s school record for career stroke average (71.45)

Additional notes

• Austin Greaser (T2/-22), who finished No. 3 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, is the only player in the field with three rounds of 64 or better this week (63-64-64); he entered the week with three rounds of 64 or lower in 22 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour.
• Rookie Caleb VanArragon (T2/-22) had not stood higher than T17 through 54 holes in his nine career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour prior to this week (six missed cuts in nine starts).
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Rick Lamb (T2/-22) establishes a new career-high 54-hole position (previous: third/2016 Visit Knoxville Open/finished T3); he is seeking his first victory since the 2016 LECOM Health Challenge, which he won as an open qualifier en route to earning PGA TOUR membership at season’s end.
• Tyson Alexander (fifth/-21), winner of the 2021 and 2022 Veritex Bank Championships, cards career-low round of 10-under 61 in the third round (previous: 62/2022 Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open/Round 1); he is bidding to become the second player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win the same event three times (Kyle Thompson/UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH/2007, 2011, 2015).
• Blades Brown (T11/-19), a 17-year-old professional in his third career start on the Korn Ferry Tour, records his third consecutive made cut; he is the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to record three made cuts prior to turning 18 years old.
• Rookie and conditional member Tanner Napier (T29/-16), competing this week via a sponsor exemption, records his first made cut in his fifth career start on the Korn Ferry Tour (four missed cuts in first four starts this season).
• Two open qualifiers made the 36-hole cut: conditional member Andrew Loupe (T22/-17) and Joey Herrera (T39/-14).
  • Loupe, who birdied three of his final four holes to make the cut on the number, is a conditional member playing from the “Past Champion 5-10 Years” category via his victory at the 2015 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship – which propelled him to PGA TOUR membership for a second time in three years via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals (2013, 2015); his start this week marked his first TOUR-sanctioned start since the 2022 CJ CUP Byron Nelson, with his last made cut in a TOUR-sanctioned event coming at the 2021 ISCO Championship (finished 74th), and his last made cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event coming at the 2017 DAP Championship (finished T50).
  • Herrera, making his third career start on the Korn Ferry Tour, recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 15th in the first round and made the cut on the number (missed cut in previous two Korn Ferry Tour starts – one each in 2023 and 2024).
• The 36-hole cut was made at 9-under 133, marking the lowest 36-hole cut score (both in terms of total score and score relative to par) in Korn Ferry Tour history; the previous record for lowest 36-hole cut score was 135 (five times, most recent: 2024 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS), and the previous record for lowest 36-hole cut score relative to par was 7-under (seven times, most recent: 2024 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS).