Safeway Open 54-hole leader Tyler Duncan is seeking his first PGA Tour victory in his second career start. Should he go on to win, he would be the first player since Emiliano Grillo (2015 Safeway Open) to win his first start as an official member of the PGA Tour. He would also be the second consecutive rookie to win on Tour, following Xander Schaffele’s victory at the season-ending 2017 TOUR Championship.
Here are some other facts You Oughta Know:
• Ten players are within four strokes of the lead. Four of those ten – Tyler Duncan, Bud Cauley, Graham DeLaet and Andrew Putnam – are seeking their first PGA Tour victory.
• Duncan bogeyed three of the four par-3 holes Saturday (he birdied the fourth). He holed a crucial 6-foot putt for bogey at the par-3 15th hole after hitting his tee shot into the water. He bounced back with a birdie at No. 16 and closed the round with pars at 17 and 18.
• Since 2014, Duncan, a 2012 Purdue University grad, has split his time between the Web.com Tour and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica.
• Duncan is engaged to be married to Maria Krempp, a former college golfer herself, on Oct. 21 in Indiana.
• The 54-hole leader has gone on to victory three times at the Safeway Open – Sangmoon Bae/2015, Rocco Mediate/2010 and Troy Matteson/2009.
• Brendan Steele’s win from four strokes back last year is the largest come-from-behind win in Safeway tournament history.
• After making three bogeys in his first eight holes of the tournament, Bud Cauley has not posted a bogey in his last 46 consecutive holes.
• Bad news for defending champion Brendan Steele: The Safeway Open has never produced a repeat winner.
