Kim Joo-hyung (21), a rising star of the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour, maintained the top spot on the American Express (total prize money of 8 million dollars).
In the third round of the tournament held at the PGA West Stadium Course (par 72) in La Quinta, California, USA on the 22nd (Korean time), Kim Joo-hyung made 7 birdies and committed 2 bogeys, hitting 5 under par 67.
Kim Joo-hyung, who recorded a total of 18 under par 198 strokes through the third round, tied for 5th place, 5 strokes behind joint leaders John Lam (Spain) and Davis Thompson (USA).
On this day, Kim Joo-hyung recorded a driver shot accuracy of 57.14% (8/14) and a green hit rate of 83.33% (15/18), and the number of strokes gained by putting was rather low at 0.975 strokes.
Kim Joo-hyung, who caught a stepping stone birdie by placing iron shots within 3 to 4m of the pin in both the 2nd hole (par 4) and the 4th and 6th holes (par 3) in the first half, went to the green twice in the 8th hole (par 5) and made a birdie. Added
However, in the second half of the 10th hole (par 4), the tee shot went into the fairway bunker, and in the 11th hole (par 5), the second shot went into the water, so he made a series of bogies and faltered.
Kim Joo-hyung made up his mind again and caught a 3.8m birdie on the 12th hole (par 4) and a 5.4m consecutive birdie on the 13th hole (par 3). He was able to maintain the top ranking by adding a 3.8m birdie to the last 18th hole (par 4).
In an interview with the PGA Tour after the game, he said, “The first nine holes were good, but the start of the second nine holes was shaky. Still, he finished the second half hole with under par, so he was able to place himself in a good position for the final round.”
In addition, Kim Joo-hyung said that the birdie caught on the 12th hole following consecutive bogies on the 10th and 11th holes was “100% important birdie.” He explained, “In the 12th hole, my tee shot went to the fairway bunker, but I hit a good wedge shot from the bunker and got a birdie, so I was able to regain my composure in the later holes.” 메이저사이트
Attention is focusing on whether Kim Joo-hyung, who reached the top at the Wyndham Championship in August last year and the Shriners Children’s Open in October, will be able to overcome the 5-stroke gap and win his third PGA Tour title.
John Rahm (Spain), ranked 4th in the world, tied 1 eagle, 6 birdies, and 1 bogey on the stadium course, recording a 7-under-par 65 and tied for the lead (23-under 193) with rookie Davis Thompson (USA).
Having won the Sentry Tournament of Champions held in Hawaii two weeks ago, he has a good chance to win his 9th PGA Tour career.
“It’s only positive,” Ram said. “The ball strike is amazing. He hit a lot of good tee shots and created a lot of chances with his irons. Many players are doing this. I am very confident because I know that tomorrow I will have to score low again if I want to win.”
Thompson, who was leading by two strokes, allowed Rahm to tie for the lead, but responded that he did not mind. Thompson said, “The rookie has nothing to lose,” and “I will play freely. It’s exciting to play with Ram. He is a top 5 player in the world. The challenge is exciting and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”
Lim Seong-jae (25), who played on the La Quinta course that day, reduced 4 strokes with 5 birdies and 1 bogey, and his ranking dropped slightly to a tie for 9th place (17 under par, 199 strokes).
Kim Si-woo (28), who won the Sony Open last week, also reduced 3 strokes, but the ranking fell slightly to a tie for 27th (13 under par 203 strokes).
In this tournament, after rounds 1 to 3 are played in three different courses, the winners of the cut are covered. Ahn Byeong-hun (32) was tied for 101st until the second round the previous day and was in the risk of missing the cut, but he drove 9 under par that day to raise his ranking to 36th (12 under par, 204 strokes) and succeeded in advancing to the final round.
On the other hand, Lee Kyung-hoon (32, 9 under par, 207 strokes) failed to pass the cut as he was one stroke short of the cutoff standard of 10 under par, while Kim Seong-hyun (25, 5 under par, 211 strokes), Noh Seung-yeol (32, 4 under par, 212 strokes), and Kang Seong-hoon (36, 4 under par, 212 strokes) 3 under par 213 strokes) also fell short of the cut.