Kjettrup remains atop CRMC Championship leaderboard

BRAINERD, Minnesota – Two-time PGA TOUR Americas winner Frederik Kjettrup maintains a four-stroke lead heading into the final round of the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens after carding a 5-under 65 on Saturday. The Masters and U.S. Open low-amateur Neal Shipley is in solo second following a second-round 6-under 64. Joey Vrzich trails Shipley by one stroke with a 15-under tournament total heading into Sunday’s final round at Cragun’s Legacy Courses.

Occupying the first and second positions at the top of the leaderboard are two recent college graduates who are well-versed with one another far beyond their play as rookies on PGA TOUR Americas this season. Florida State alum Kjettrup and Ohio State alum Shipley were both competitive players at their respective colleges, and crossed paths with one another at multiple collegiate tournaments.

Kjettrup’s success came early as the Denmark native garnered three collegiate victories and claimed two professional victories within his first month out of college. Shipley’s accomplishments came in a different fashion as the 2023 U.S. Amateur runner-up made seven starts on TOUR this year after earning low-amateur honors at The Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open. His best showing came at the ISCO Championship where he finished tied for sixth.

Saturday’s third round proved to be an initial test for the duo as they will be paired together once again for Sunday’s final round. Kjettrup began the day with a five-stroke lead over Shipley, but ultimately made the turn tied with the Pennsylvania native after Shipley posted a 5-under 30 on the front-nine contested to Kjettrup’s even-par 35. The back-nine proved to be momentous for Kjettrup as he went bogey-free and carded five birdies to return to his four-stroke lead over second place. Kjettrup used the back-nine to his advantage for the third consecutive round as he is a combined 14-under par and bogey-free on Nos. 10-18.

Down by four strokes heading into Sunday’s final round, Shipley spoke highly of his competition and the thrill of going head-to-head as professionals. “Freddie is a great player. He has had a great season out here, and I think he is looking for his third win, so he knows how to get it done,” said Shipley. “We are going to have to go out there and chase him down because he’s probably not going to give it to us tomorrow. I’m excited, it should be a really fun day.”

Kjettrup will look to claim his third victory of the season this week and earn the Three-Victory Promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour. By virtue of three wins in a singular season, Kjettrup would automatically become an exempt member on the Korn Ferry Tour for the rest of the 2024 season and for the following season in 2025. The 24-year-old would be the first player to achieve this promotion since the inception of the Three-Victory Promotion in 2020 for the International Tours (formerly PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, which was combined in 2024 to form PGA TOUR Americas).

Final-round tee times are set to begin at 8:05 a.m. CT and will run until 1:15 p.m. CT in twosomes off the No. 1 tee. Kjettrup and Shipley will be paired together for the final grouping of the day.