The third round of any professional golf tournament is considered moving day and that’s exactly what Wyatt Provence did making a push up the leaderboard during the third round of the OccuNet Classic presented by Amarillo National Bank as a part of the Korn Ferry Tour on Saturday at the Tascosa Golf Club’s Country Club’s La Paloma layout.
From the last player to make the cut Friday, Provence fired an unbelievable 7-under par 63 on Saturday putting him at 7-under for the tournament just six strokes off the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
“Knowing I had made the cut and being the first one off the tee today took a lot of pressure off,” said Provence, who had the second lowest round Saturday. “I was just out and enjoying the day. I was able to hit the ball really good, I chipped well and got some putts to go in, so it was a really good day for me.”
Let’s set the stage of how far Provence has come since Thursday.
Playing in his first professional tournament, and the only amateur in the field, the Randall graduate and University of New Mexico talent had his ups and downs in the opening round with a 3-over par 73 to sit seven shots back of day one leader Ben Carr.
On Friday, Provence battled back to card a 3-under par 67, finishing at even par and was the last player in the clubhouse to make the cut. That put Provence nine shots back of Friday’s leader Chan Kim.
Being the final player to make the weekend put Provence as the first one off the tee early Saturday morning. Playing by himself, and the pressure off, Provence overcame an early bogey on No. 2 and caught absolute fire. Provence birdied his next four holes and rounded out his front nine with five total birdies.
On the back side, Provence birdied 11 then slipped with a bogey at No. 13. However, he was able to rally right back with three straight birdies from No. 15 through No. 17 and was inches away from chipping in for a birdie on No. 18, which resulted in a tap in par.
“I noticed I was on a streak and I knew I had to move up the leaderboard,” said Provence, who had nine total birdies with two bogeys. “I think my mindset for Sunday will be as it was for this third round, I’m just going to go out and enjoy it. Opportunities like this don’t come around very often and I just need to play my game.”
In the afternoon the temperatures and wind picked up and scoring became more difficult but that didn’t stop Zack Fischer from having a monumental day. Fischer was the only player to go lower than Provence with a sizzling 62 highlighted by a scorching final four holes. Fisher, who was 5-under par after Friday, went 5-under par in his final four holes Saturday with three birdies and then an incredible eagle on No. 17 where he hit a 9-iron from 182 yards out within 5-feet on the par five.
“I didn’t think a round like that was going to happen,” said Fischer, who is looking for his first win on the Korn Ferry Tour in 171 starts. “I happen to get hot with the putter and I hit some really good shots and then I caught a break on 17 where the ball jumped up on the green and the next thing you know I had an eagle. I found something on the range on Monday and I’ve been working on my mental side. I’m literally assessing every single shot. My biggest take away is bad shots are going to happen but you move on to the next and go for your best swing.”
Fischer will hold a four shot lead over Ryo Ishikawa and Alvaro Ortiz, who are both at 9-under par, heading into Sunday’s final round.
After thrilling a huge fan following Friday by shooting a 64, John Daly II had his struggles with a 3-over par 73 on Saturday. Daly is 1-over par for the tournament.
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For a look at Saturday’s third round results and Sunday’s final round tee times, please visit https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/tournaments/2026/occunet-classic-presented-by-amarillo-national-bank/H2026173
