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Locals in the hunt after third round of Inspirato Colorado Open

By July 26, 2025 | updated 4 months ago

Jim Knous Colorado Open
Colorado native Jim Knous hits a shot on Saturday during the third round of the Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. (Troy Freeman/Colorado Open)
Chris Schmaedeke chris.schmaedeke@gazette.com

The leaderboard at the Inspirato Colorado Open has familiar names in the hunt for the title.

Five golfers in the top 15 have Colorado ties and are within five shots of Albuquerque’s Sam Saunders, who is leading at 16-under after Saturday’s third-round at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

Former CU Buff Tucker Clark and Colorado native Jim Knous are the closest to Saunders, three shots back in a tie for third. Clark shot up the leaderboard 19 spots after a third-round 63. He currently plays on the PGA University Tour and was part of back-to-back Colorado teams that qualified for the NCAA Championship.

Knous, who shot a 64 on Saturday, lost in a playoff to Davis Bryant at Green Valley Ranch in last year’s event. Knous recently retired from the PGA Tour and works for PING.

Defending champion Bryant is part of a trio of locals in a tie for ninth and five shots back of the top spot. Fort Collins’ AJ Ott and second-round leader Chris Korte are also in the group at 11-under. Korte, who played on the PGA Tour last week, shot 63 on Friday but faltered with a 71 on Saturday.

Sanders tied Clark for low round of the day with a 63. He started his day with three straight birdies and finished with eight birdies and no bogeys. Sanders played his college golf at the University of New Mexico and played in the Valero Texas Open on the PGA Tour this year.

California’s Skyler Finnell is solo in second place, two shots behind Saunders.

The Inspirato Colorado Open has a purse of $200,000, with the winner taking home $100,000. Final round tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, and the final group is set for 9:31 a.m.

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Chris Schmaedeke

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The Inspirato Colorado Open once again will bring a strong field to Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. The annual tournament, which runs Thursday-Sunday and has the winner take home $100,000, will feature plenty of local golfers and some former PGA Tour players. Defending champion and Aurora native Davis Bryant, who grew up at Green Valley […]

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Colorado native Jim Knous this time got it done in the playoff and did so in extraordinary fashion. The former Colorado School of Mines golfer holed out for eagle on the fourth playoff hole Sunday to beat Sam Saunders to win the Inspirato Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Knous lost in a […]
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