BERTHOUD >> After making par on the 18th hole Saturday during the third round of The Ascendant at TPC Colorado, Alistair Docherty admitted the altitude hadn’t been kind to him during his week in Colorado.

He blamed it, and possibly allergies, to not feeling great during his first two rounds, in which he shot a 68 and a 71 to enter the third round at 5 under.

Saturday, however, he said he has felt the best he has all week and it showed on the course as he shot a 9-under-par 63 to get to 14 under for the tournament and at the top of the leaderboard.

“I hit it to where I was looking for the most part, other than maybe two holes, and gave myself a lot of opportunities and a couple went in and added it up at the end,” Docherty said. “Obviously, it was a good round.

“I’ve been battling this elevation sickness, or allergies or something. I can barely breathe out here. I slept pretty good last night for the first time since being here, so I felt a little energized, I guess.”

Docherty finished his round strong. He made the turn at 4 under for the day and was at 6 under with six holes to go.

After three straight pars, he birdied holes 15, 16 and 17 before missing a birdie putt on 18 and settling for par to finish at 9 under. His 63 turned out to be the best score of the third round.

“I didn’t go away from the game plan,” Docherty said. “I hit it to my spots and kind of just tried to make everything that I could. I hit the putt on 18 the way I wanted to. I guess it was a little faster than I thought. I’m glad I made a comebacker.”

This is Docherty’s second time playing The Ascendant. He tied for 56th last year.

Another solid third round came from John VanDerLaan, who was in the second group to tee off Saturday morning.

The Korn Ferry Tour veteran has had some success at TPC Colorado, having finished in the top-30 at The Ascendant three times. His best finish came in 2022 when he tied for 13th. He was 19th last year.

Saturday, he set the pace for the rest of the field with an 8-under 64 on the day, only later to be bested by Docherty. After shooting a 69 on Thursday and a 72 on Friday, he will enter Sunday’s final round at 11 under.

“I played great today,” VanDerLaan said. “I’ve been playing solid for a while. I haven’t felt like I’ve been getting much out of it, just haven’t been making the putts, and today I started rolling them in. I made a 6 on (hole) 1, made a bogey on the first and after that played real solid, so it’s nice to make the cut on the number and shoot low today and get back up into the mix.”

His best hole of the day came on the par-4 6th, which set him up to make the turn at 4 under. He then made four birdies on the back nine.

Just like the rest of the tournament field, VanDerLaan is hoping to lock up a PGA Tour card. The top 30 in the Korn Ferry standings at the end of the season will earn one. Last year he finished 42nd, and he is currently 62nd this year. A strong finish this weekend will help him move up that list.

“I want it really bad,” VanDerLaan said. “I want it more than anything. I tell people you don’t want to be the veteran on this tour. You want to get out of here as quick as you can. I’ve had some success. I’ve gotten a little closer year after year, and I’m just going to continue doing things the right way that I’ve been doing them and seeing progress and chipping away at it, and I know my time is coming.”

The best shot of the third round came from Timmy Crawford. Crawford qualified for The Ascendant on Monday and aced the par-4, 365-yard third hole on Saturday.

He finished his round with a 68 and is 9 under going into Sunday’s final round.

Matt McCarty is the leader at 19 under after an eagle on No. 15 pushed him into the top spot. He also birdied 17 to take the lead by three strokes. McCarty tied VanDerLaan at 64.

Cristobal Del Solar is three strokes behind McCarty in second place. He was only two strokes behind going to the last hole, but he bogeyed the par-4 18th.

Two players are tied for third, two strokes behind Del Solar. Mitchell Meissner shot a 67 to match Docherty at 14-under. There is a group of four tied for fifth at 13-under.

The tournament record, which has been broken every year, is 20 under set last year by Nicholas Lindheim.