Justin Thomas moves into Hero World Challenge lead ahead of champion Scheffler
Winless for the last two and a half years, new dad Justin Thomas leads the 2024 Hero World Challenge by a stroke from defending champion Scottie Scheffler after a Moving Day 6 under par round.
- Dec 8, 2024,
- Updated Dec 8, 2024 9:13 PM IST
Justin Thomas turned the form book on its head on Moving Day at the 2024 $5 million Hero World Challenge at Albany, moving ahead of defending champion and world number on Scottie Scheffler to hold the 54-hole lead on Saturday.
Thomas, who has been right on the heels of the leaders since day one shot a 6 under par 66 to lead the field on 17 under 199 while Scheffler, looking for a second win in four starts at the World Challenge was on 18 under 200 with young Indian-Americans Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala sharing fifth place on 12 under 204.
The card of the day though was handed in by young Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim, who won his maiden senior professional title on Indian soil as a teenager and on Saturday set the tournament alight with a third day course record 10 under 62, one shot shy of the all time best on the Bahamas track. The blistering round followed his second day 7 under 65 and pushed the Korean into third place on 15 under 201.
Kim (74-65-62) started Saturday with four straight birdies and returned a 6 under 30 on the outbound stretch. He kept the momentum going in the way back to the clubhouse other than a double bogey on hole 17 though Kim would respond with a hole-out from the bunker on 18 for his 12th birdie of the day.
“I did a lot of good things to keep my momentum going,” Kim said on the tournament website. “Had a few crucial par saves. On 18, it’s just a bonus what happened after 17. You have such a good day and to kind of end it like that, it is a little disappointing, but for 18 to go in just kind of makes dinner taste a little better.”
The consistent Thomas, who leads the field in strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained on approach, it has been a pleasant trip to the Bahamas this far though it has been almost 30 months since his last tour win.
“I’m driving it great,” Thomas (66-67-66) said afterwards. “I’ve had a lot of confidence with it. I feel like I’ve been able to put myself in some pretty good spots, you know, going into the green. I’m still not taking advantage of some of them as much as I would like, but that’s golf and we’re always going to say that.
“I feel like if I just kind of tighten it up a little bit tomorrow, drive it a little bit better, who knows what the conditions will be, but should at least have more opportunities for birdies.” Scheffler (67-64-69) and Thomas will tee off in the final group on Sunday and the Olympic champion feels he is in a good space.
“Overall, my game’s in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen the last few days out there on the course and hoping to finish off with a real solid round tomorrow.”
Keegan Bradley continued to hold fourth place on 13 under 203 (68-67-68) four strokes behind the event leader while Theegala (67-71-66) and Bhatia (67-66-71) were T5 a further adrift on 12 under totals.
Interestingly, 15-time PGA Tour winner Thomas has been bogey-free for the last 51 holes heading into the final round, the last bogey against his name coming at the par-5 third hole in the opening round and he holds the 54-hile lead for the 14th time in his career, and he has gone on to win from that position eight times in all.
Kim, who began slowly at Albany and was three over after the first six holes on Thursday was one stroke below his best 18-hole return on tour on Saturday behind the 61 he shot at the Wyndham Championship two years ago.
Justin Thomas turned the form book on its head on Moving Day at the 2024 $5 million Hero World Challenge at Albany, moving ahead of defending champion and world number on Scottie Scheffler to hold the 54-hole lead on Saturday.
Thomas, who has been right on the heels of the leaders since day one shot a 6 under par 66 to lead the field on 17 under 199 while Scheffler, looking for a second win in four starts at the World Challenge was on 18 under 200 with young Indian-Americans Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala sharing fifth place on 12 under 204.
The card of the day though was handed in by young Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim, who won his maiden senior professional title on Indian soil as a teenager and on Saturday set the tournament alight with a third day course record 10 under 62, one shot shy of the all time best on the Bahamas track. The blistering round followed his second day 7 under 65 and pushed the Korean into third place on 15 under 201.
Kim (74-65-62) started Saturday with four straight birdies and returned a 6 under 30 on the outbound stretch. He kept the momentum going in the way back to the clubhouse other than a double bogey on hole 17 though Kim would respond with a hole-out from the bunker on 18 for his 12th birdie of the day.
“I did a lot of good things to keep my momentum going,” Kim said on the tournament website. “Had a few crucial par saves. On 18, it’s just a bonus what happened after 17. You have such a good day and to kind of end it like that, it is a little disappointing, but for 18 to go in just kind of makes dinner taste a little better.”
The consistent Thomas, who leads the field in strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained on approach, it has been a pleasant trip to the Bahamas this far though it has been almost 30 months since his last tour win.
“I’m driving it great,” Thomas (66-67-66) said afterwards. “I’ve had a lot of confidence with it. I feel like I’ve been able to put myself in some pretty good spots, you know, going into the green. I’m still not taking advantage of some of them as much as I would like, but that’s golf and we’re always going to say that.
“I feel like if I just kind of tighten it up a little bit tomorrow, drive it a little bit better, who knows what the conditions will be, but should at least have more opportunities for birdies.” Scheffler (67-64-69) and Thomas will tee off in the final group on Sunday and the Olympic champion feels he is in a good space.
“Overall, my game’s in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen the last few days out there on the course and hoping to finish off with a real solid round tomorrow.”
Keegan Bradley continued to hold fourth place on 13 under 203 (68-67-68) four strokes behind the event leader while Theegala (67-71-66) and Bhatia (67-66-71) were T5 a further adrift on 12 under totals.
Interestingly, 15-time PGA Tour winner Thomas has been bogey-free for the last 51 holes heading into the final round, the last bogey against his name coming at the par-5 third hole in the opening round and he holds the 54-hile lead for the 14th time in his career, and he has gone on to win from that position eight times in all.
Kim, who began slowly at Albany and was three over after the first six holes on Thursday was one stroke below his best 18-hole return on tour on Saturday behind the 61 he shot at the Wyndham Championship two years ago.