RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesNEWBURGH — There's a reason why Peyton Blackard has won back-to-back City championships.
The defending champion reminded the field with a 5-under-par 67 at Rolling Hills Country Club to claim the lead following the third round of the Romain Cadillac Evansville City Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 8.
Blackard (-14) owns a four-shot cushion over Caleb Wassmer heading into the finale at Evansville Country Club. It's going to take a monumental effort to catch the leader if he replicates this effort.
Blackard made zero mistakes, eliminating a four-shot deficit by the ninth tee box. The Gibson Southern graduate recorded birdies at 1, 5, 8, 13 and 18. Most crucially, he didn't lose any strokes around the 6,700-yard course. It was one of his finer efforts ever at Rolling Hills – Blackard played the front nine in 5-over 41 last year.
What changed? It finally clicked how he should play this specific course. The Notre Dame sophomore didn't record a bogey over two days to win the Rolling Hills Invitational in June. He feasted on the par 5s with three birdies, while his short game was nearly perfect. His 67 was the low round Saturday.
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"I kind of figured out my do's and dont's off tees," Blackard said. "The holes I can attack out here are the par 5s. I had to stay below the holes and haven't done a great job of that before these last two tournaments. Had chances all day long. Not as good as the first two days, but still really solid ball striking. I didn't stray much from the fairway."
A third straight victory isn't etched in stone. Wassmer proved he can go low last weekend but struggled to keep pace on the back nine here. The first weekend leader played his final 12 holes in 4-over. Two-time champion Logan Osborne will join them in Sunday's final group after a 70 that included five birdies.
Daymian Rij and Luke Johnston are only five back at 9-under following a combined 10 birdies in the third round. Matt Monroe (-6) could also pose a threat with a strong finish and help from the leaders. This tournament is typcially never decided until the back nine at ECC.
"I'm going to attack the holes I can attack," Blackard said. "When I get out of position like I did today, I can leave it in a spot where I can get it up and down. I trust my short game more than almost anything in my bag. When I have that, I feel very free playing golf."
Below are the complete standings going into the final round, with the leaders scheduled to tee off at 10:10 a.m.
2026 Evansville Men's City Tournament Third-Round Scores
Peyton Blackard (-14)
Logan Osborne, Caleb Wassmer (-10)
Luke Johnston, Daymian Rij (-9)
Matt Monroe (-6)
Blake Ruckman, Kyle Aiton (-4)
Cameron Weyer, Jace Day, Nathan Hoss (-2)
Wade Worthington (-1)
Hank Schreiber, David Mills, Jacob Fleming, Alex Cook (E)
Michael Daum, Walker Beck (+1)
Stewie Hobgood (+2)
Trevor Grant, Mason Mills (+3)
Layne Cunningham, Cade Schiff, Nathaniel Caudle, Alex Manion, Zach Thomas (+4)
Trevor Wagner, Chip Tiemann (+5)
Phillip Riggs, Drew Cahill, Chase Emge (+6)
Eric Brinker, Peyton Butler (+7)
Brayden Lamborne, Troy Wagner (+8)
Brandon Moore, Doug DeLong (+9)
Isaac Marx (+10)
Brady Fiester (+11)
Patrick Montgomery (+15)
Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at [email protected] .
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Peyton Blackard roars into lead for final round of Evansville City Tournament
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