ELKHORN, Nebraska – With just 18 holes remaining in the regular season and nine PGA TOUR cards up for grabs, three players are tied atop the leaderboard entering the final round of the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna: Taylor Montgomery, Ben Taylor and Philip Knowles, who will enter the final round as co-leaders at 13-under par.

Montgomery, one of Friday’s 36-hole co-leaders, carded a bogey-free 5-under 66 and maintained a share of the lead. Despite having five runner-up finishes and eight inside the top five, this marks just the second 54-hole lead or co-lead of Montgomery’s Korn Ferry Tour career. At the 2021 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, he held a share of the lead after three rounds but finished T2, two shots behind eventual champion Joshua Creel.

“It would be nice to have an outright lead but seems like I'm always tied for the lead,” Montgomery said. “I had some opportunities on the back nine today, but it doesn't matter. There are 18 more holes, pressure packed, but I love it. If you don't like being in the lead then you don't like winning. It's going to be fun tomorrow.”

Montgomery played out of the final group Saturday and opened with a birdie on the par-4 first. He added two more birdies on the front at Nos. 4 and 9. The 27-year-old native of Las Vegas, Nevada rolled in back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th. Montgomery had a chance for birdie and the outright lead with an 8-foot putt at the par-4 18th, but he settled for par to share the position atop the leaderboard.

“I enjoy it because that's what you play for,” Montgomery said of being in contention. “I love the fans out here. I wanted to make that putt on the last hole, but I'm just excited to see what tomorrow has in store."

In this event last year, Montgomery entered the week No. 24 on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List and positioned to secure his first PGA TOUR card. After rounds of 77 and 68, he missed the cut and fell 26th, one spot out of a trip to the TOUR. Montgomery then finished the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals at No. 26 on its points list, once again missing a TOUR card by one spot.

“This is a way better week than one year ago, but that's golf,” said Montgomery, who secured his first PGA TOUR card last month. “In golf, you can change it in a couple of days and that's what's nice about this. I kept my (Korn Ferry Tour) card last year and practiced hard. It led me to this spot."

Montgomery is making his 15th start of the season and came into the week No. 8 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points List. Despite not cracking the top 10 his first five starts of the year, Montgomery has finished T9 or higher in six of his last nine starts, including a T2 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper.

Ben Taylor came into the day positioned T20, four shots behind the trio of 36-hole co-leaders. The 30-year-old Englishman rocketed up the leaderboard with a 9-under 62, which, along with Carl Yuan Saturday, tied the tournament course record. Taylor carded a trio of eagles at the par-5 seventh and 15th, and a hole-out deuce at the par-4 18th.

“I knew it was a good birdie chance, so we fancied hitting it pretty close, but that was obviously a nice touch to get the people going and give them something to cheer for,” Taylor said of the hole-out eagle. “Once I knew it hopped on the green and had some spin, I realized that everyone was getting on their feet. I thought, this could be going pretty close. That was fun. That was certainly a special moment this year for sure.”

Supported by three top-10s this season, Taylor came into the week on the right side of the bubble to finish inside the top 25, but still needed to close out the regular season with a solid finish to return to the TOUR. Taylor entered the week at No. 23 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points List, but heads into the final round in prime position to earn his second PGA TOUR card after originally graduating via the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

While his eyes this week are set on securing a spot inside The 25, Taylor was in a different position during his first season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017. In 22 starts as a rookie, he recorded three top-20s and hovered around the No. 75 bubble late in the year; he eventually finished the regular season No. 80, leaving him with conditional status the following year.

“You put yourself in these positions as often as I have in my short career – this is year seven – and I feel like I've got more experience than I did the first few times I was in that position,” Taylor said while discussing the his professional career. “Now this is my fourth year playing this Tour. I've got two years of experience on the main Tour. It's just a matter of time, and I think it's all falling together at the right time.”

Taylor’s position five years ago is all to relevant for Philip Knowles, who entered the week at No. 87 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points List and needing a strong finish just to earn a Korn Ferry Tour Finals berth and fully exempt status next season.

Standing atop the leaderboard again (Knowles held the outright lead Thursday), Knowles has placed himself in reach of not only the top 75, but potentially the first PGA TOUR card of his young career should he go on to win.

“I think a win gets me a TOUR card. I don't know exactly what I need to get in the Finals, but I know I need to play well,” said Knowles. “I don't bother myself with those figures and just go shoot the best round I can tomorrow and see where that stacks up.”

Knowles carded a bogey-free 7-under 64 Saturday, tying his career-low round in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned start, set in the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX. He rolled in seven birdies Saturday afternoon, tied for the second most by any player in the field, with four coming on the front nine (Nos. 2, 4, 7, 9) and three on the back (Nos. 12, 15, 16).

Sitting outside the top 75 coming into the week and now in position to chase his first career victory and TOUR membership, Knowles will be ready for what comes next, no matter what unfolds Sunday.

"I booked two flights,” said Knowles. “One is headed to Boise (where the Korn Ferry Tour Finals begins next week) and one is headed to Jacksonville on Monday. That's the bottom line. This is a crazy week in golf. There's a lot riding on it, and careers are at stake.”

Final-round groupings will run from 6:40 a.m. through 10:40 a.m. local time off the first tee.

Third-Round Notes

• Ben Taylor (T1 / -13) and Carl Yuan (T5 / -11) posted the low rounds of the day and tied the course record with a 9-under 62
• Friday marks Taylor’s third time inside the top-3 after 54-holes this season
• Taylor recorded his career-low round on the Korn Ferry Tour with a 63; eclipsing his previous best of 64, which he carded earlier this season at the Huntsville Championship and finished solo-second, his best of the season
• Philip Knowles (T1 / -13) matched his career-low round of 64, established at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX earlier this season; eventually finishing T12 which still holds as his highest finish on Tour
• Justin Suh (T5 / -11) carded the most birdies in round three with eight, as well as the most birdies through 54-holes with 19
• Suh sits inside the top-10 after 54-holes for the third consecutive week
• After the third round, Knowles is the only player projected to move inside the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points List, while Kevin Roy (T55 / -2) is the only player projected to fall outside the top 25
• 54-hole standings for Nos. 21-31 who made the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour Points ListNo. 22 Kevin Roy (T55 / -2)No. 23 Ben Taylor (T1 / -13)No. 24 Vincent Norrman (T29 / -6)No. 25 Michael Kim (T22 / -7)No. 26 Brandon Harkins (T34 / -5)No. 30 Akshay Bhatia (T13 / -8)No. 31 T.J. Vogel (T13 / -8)
• The Pinnacle Bank Championship is 23rd and final regular season tournament of the 26-event 2022 Korn Ferry Tour schedule; the first set of 25 PGA TOUR cards will be awarded to the top 25 players (i.e. – The 25) on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points List following the conclusion of Sunday’s final round.
• An additional 25 TOUR cards will be awarded following the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals, which conclude with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance (September 1-4)
• This week’s purse is $850,000, with $153,000 going to the champion; the champion will also receive 600 Korn Ferry Tour points
• All 2022 Korn Ferry Tour regular season events feature a minimum purse of $750,000, a 25 percent increase from last season, and will boast minimum purses of $1 million in 2023 for a total increase of 66.7 percent from 2021 to 2022

Third-Round Course Statistics

• Scoring Average (Total - Par 71): 68.738 [-2.262]
• Scoring Average (Front Nine - Par 36): 35.415 [-0.585]
• Scoring Average (Back Nine - Park 35): 33.232 [-1.677]
• Toughest Hole: No. 3, Par 4, 468 yards – 4.292 [+0.292]
• Easiest Hole: No. 15, Par 5, 573 yards – 4.246 [-0.754]