Michael La Sasso, a 22-year-old rookie seeking his first pro victory, vaulted into a one-shot lead after 54 holes with a third-round, four-under-par 66 on Saturday at LIV Golf Indianapolis.
La Sasso, who sits at 13 under par entering the final round, sank five birdies and an eagle to overcome a pair of bogeys at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind.
In his 12th start on the LIV Tour and 13th as a pro, La Sasso leads by one over first-round leader Laurie Canter of England (68 on Saturday), Belgium’s Thomas Detry (68), England’s Richard Bland (65) and Australian Cameron Smith (67).
“I played really well today,” La Sasso, a native of Raleigh, N.C., who played one season at North Carolina State before tranferring to Ole Miss, where he won the 2025 NCAA individual championship. “It’s enjoyable getting paired up with Wolffy (Matthew Wolff). We play a lot of golf back in Jupiter (Fla.) together. When I saw we were paired up, I was pretty ecstatic about that, and he definitely brought the vibes out there today, so it was good.”
Coming off an impressive second-round 10-under 60 that placed him in a tie for fifth, La Sasso opened the back nine with a bogey sandwiched between two birdies, then shot an eagle on the par-5 14th hole.
“There’s a lot of young guys doing a lot of good stuff,” La Sasso said about potentially earning his first pro victory in the last event of the season. “I’m friends with pretty much all of them. I would say it definitely fuels the fire.
“There’s been countless guys that I played with in college that have already won professionally now, so if I could add my name to the resume, that would be pretty sweet.”
Bland, 53, also seeking his first victory with LIV Golf, tied for the best round of the day while sinking seven birdies, though he did falter on the par-4 6th hole with a double bogey. Afterward, the Englishman praised the American rookie currently holding the lead.
“The youngest and the oldest, yeah,” Bland said, referring to La Sasso and himself. “I’m sure he’ll be 50 yards past me off the tee. He’s a great kid. I’ve played with Michael a couple of times this year. You can see he’s got a huge amount of talent. He’s got a great future in front of him, wherever that future is. I’m sure he’s going to be a star of the future.”
Canter, 36, who has won twice on the European Tour (2024, 2025), has posted back-to-back 2-under 68s and is pleased to be in the running after a strong start to the third round, sinking two birdies in the first four holes.
“I got off to a really good start today,” Canter said. “Three-under on the front nine, which I think statistically is the tougher nine. Yeah, I was really happy with how I played 6 and 8. They’re pretty difficult holes and got through those with a couple of good pars and managed to pick three up. … Yeah, I’m in the tournament tomorrow. Got a chance.”
Bubba Watson (67), Spain’s Sergio Garcia (66) and Josele Ballester (65) and South Korea’s Younghan Song (65) are tied for sixth at 11 under, one shot ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm (66), Bryson DeChambeau (67) and four others.
Second-round leader Richard T. Lee, a wild card from Canada, stumbled in the third round, shooting a 3-over 73 and tumbling into a tie for 23rd.
As for the team portion of the event, Legion XIII, captained by Rahm, holds a one-shot lead over HyFlyers GC, with La Sasso and Scott Vincent (66) of Zimbabwe leading the way.
–Field Level Media
