Korea star Kim maintains hold on Travelers lead, Bhatia a shot away
Former Panasonic Open India winner Joohyung ‘Tom’ stands 18 holes away from his fourth PGA Tour title at the Travellers Championship in Connecticut just a day after turning 22 with Akshay Bhatia hard on his heels.
- Jun 23, 2024,
- Updated Jun 23, 2024 9:33 PM IST
South Korea's Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim was on the brink of etching his name into PGA Tour history after a 5-under 65 at the Travelers Championship on Saturday kept him one shot clear of the chasing pack that included world number one Scottie Scheffler and Indian-American star Akshay Bhatia who were a single stroke behind the leader..
Kim, who turned 22 on Friday, rebounded from his first bogey of the week at TPC River Highlands, with six birdies to finish the weather-disrupted day on 18-under 192 and ahead of world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler (65-64=64) and Akshay Bhatia (64-65-64) with the latter firing seven birdies against a lone dropped shot.
Event debutant Bhatia’s fellow Indian-American Sahith Theegala held a share of 30th place on 7 under 203.
Kim’s countryman Sungjae Im fired a blistering 63 that included a monster birdie putt at the last hole, to lie a further shot back alongside PGA champion Xander Schauffele (64) and Collin Morikawa (66), the PGA Tour said.
Chasing a fourth tour title win, Kim is seeking to become the fifth youngest player in history to reach four wins at the age 22 years and two days. The other players to accomplish the feat by that age were Horton Smith (1929), Gene Sarazen (1923), Tiger Woods (1997), Jordan Spieth (2015) and Harry Cooper (1927).
An extended weather delay midway through the third round appeared to help Kim, who returned firing on all cylinders. Resuming at 1 under after six holes when play was suspended at 3:30pm, Kim fired a further four birdies in his final 12 holes. “The wind kind of died down after the delay, the greens and fairways were really soft and there was no wind,” Kim, whose last victory was at the Shriners Children’s Open in October, noted later.
“Sothere were a lot of birdies out there, I'm sure a lot of guys did, I didn't really look at leaderboards. But when you get soft conditions out there it's definitely gettable and I feel like I executed well enough to have a good round.”
Kim said he feels no pressure despite many of the world's best golfers breathing down his neck, including close friend Scheffler, who has already won five times this season. Despite dropping two strokes, the world number one fought back with eight birdies.
“I'm going to go out tomorrow with the same game plan and try to do the things that I've been doing and if it's good enough, it's great,” said Kim. “But if someone's better than that, I can't do anything about it. So just kind of go in with the expectation of there's just, it's a stacked leaderboard, a five or six shot lead is not safe at all. I’ve got to go out tomorrow and do the same game plan and execute.”
Two-time winner Im charged up the leaderboard with a flawless 63 to tie for fourth place at 16-under. He holed a monstrous 41-footer on the final hole as he attempts to win his first title since the Shriners Children's Open in October, 2021.
“I was pleased with my tee shots and my iron shots landed exactly where I aimed,” said Im. “That made putting easy, and I kept making birdies at key moments. Tomorrow, I'll continue competing at the top of the leaderboard. I aim to finish strong by trusting my game plan, focusing shot by shot, rather than getting distracted by the leaderboard and making overly aggressive decisions.”
Cameron Young also made headlines by becoming the only 12th different player to shoot a sub-60 round in the PGA Tour history. Young marked his bogey-free card with two eagles and seven birdies, navigating through the day with just 24 putts.
Ahead of Young, Jim Furyk has done it twice with a 58 and a 59, while the last player to shoot 59 or better was Scottie Scheffler at TPC Boston in 2020. Young’s feat fell a stroke short of the tour and TPC River Highlands record set by Furyk in 2016.
South Korea's Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim was on the brink of etching his name into PGA Tour history after a 5-under 65 at the Travelers Championship on Saturday kept him one shot clear of the chasing pack that included world number one Scottie Scheffler and Indian-American star Akshay Bhatia who were a single stroke behind the leader..
Kim, who turned 22 on Friday, rebounded from his first bogey of the week at TPC River Highlands, with six birdies to finish the weather-disrupted day on 18-under 192 and ahead of world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler (65-64=64) and Akshay Bhatia (64-65-64) with the latter firing seven birdies against a lone dropped shot.
Event debutant Bhatia’s fellow Indian-American Sahith Theegala held a share of 30th place on 7 under 203.
Kim’s countryman Sungjae Im fired a blistering 63 that included a monster birdie putt at the last hole, to lie a further shot back alongside PGA champion Xander Schauffele (64) and Collin Morikawa (66), the PGA Tour said.
Chasing a fourth tour title win, Kim is seeking to become the fifth youngest player in history to reach four wins at the age 22 years and two days. The other players to accomplish the feat by that age were Horton Smith (1929), Gene Sarazen (1923), Tiger Woods (1997), Jordan Spieth (2015) and Harry Cooper (1927).
An extended weather delay midway through the third round appeared to help Kim, who returned firing on all cylinders. Resuming at 1 under after six holes when play was suspended at 3:30pm, Kim fired a further four birdies in his final 12 holes. “The wind kind of died down after the delay, the greens and fairways were really soft and there was no wind,” Kim, whose last victory was at the Shriners Children’s Open in October, noted later.
“Sothere were a lot of birdies out there, I'm sure a lot of guys did, I didn't really look at leaderboards. But when you get soft conditions out there it's definitely gettable and I feel like I executed well enough to have a good round.”
Kim said he feels no pressure despite many of the world's best golfers breathing down his neck, including close friend Scheffler, who has already won five times this season. Despite dropping two strokes, the world number one fought back with eight birdies.
“I'm going to go out tomorrow with the same game plan and try to do the things that I've been doing and if it's good enough, it's great,” said Kim. “But if someone's better than that, I can't do anything about it. So just kind of go in with the expectation of there's just, it's a stacked leaderboard, a five or six shot lead is not safe at all. I’ve got to go out tomorrow and do the same game plan and execute.”
Two-time winner Im charged up the leaderboard with a flawless 63 to tie for fourth place at 16-under. He holed a monstrous 41-footer on the final hole as he attempts to win his first title since the Shriners Children's Open in October, 2021.
“I was pleased with my tee shots and my iron shots landed exactly where I aimed,” said Im. “That made putting easy, and I kept making birdies at key moments. Tomorrow, I'll continue competing at the top of the leaderboard. I aim to finish strong by trusting my game plan, focusing shot by shot, rather than getting distracted by the leaderboard and making overly aggressive decisions.”
Cameron Young also made headlines by becoming the only 12th different player to shoot a sub-60 round in the PGA Tour history. Young marked his bogey-free card with two eagles and seven birdies, navigating through the day with just 24 putts.
Ahead of Young, Jim Furyk has done it twice with a 58 and a 59, while the last player to shoot 59 or better was Scottie Scheffler at TPC Boston in 2020. Young’s feat fell a stroke short of the tour and TPC River Highlands record set by Furyk in 2016.