The ranking has fallen two notches from the previous day, but it is still within reach of the championship.
Kim Joo-hyung (21, CJ Logistics), the ‘hope’ of Korean men’s golf, took the opportunity to win three times in the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour American Express (total prize money of 8 million dollars). This season’s rookie Kim Joo-hyung won his second career victory at the Shriners Children’s Open last October.
On the 22nd (Korean time), on the 3rd day of the tournament held at the PGA West Stadium Course (par 72, 7187 yards) in La Quinta, California, USA, Kim Joo-hyung tied 2 bogeys and 7 birdies and hit 5 under par 67. Kim Joo-hyung, who recorded an interim total of 18 under par and 198 strokes over the three days, slightly went down in ranking from a tie for 3rd place the previous day to a tie for 5th place. It is 5 strokes away from John Rahm (Spain) and Davis Thompson (USA), who are tied for the lead with 23 under par and 193 strokes.
Kim Joo-hyung, who started in a tie for 3rd place, raised his momentum by successfully making birdie putts of about 3m in succession in holes 2 (par 4), 4, and 6 (above par 3). Kim Joo- hyung, who added a birdie on the 8th hole (par 5) and drew an upward curve, was shaken by consecutive bogeys on the 10th hole (par 4) and the 11th hole (par 5).
However, despite a tee shot miss on the 12th hole (par 4), he caught a birdie and succeeded in bouncing back, and then succeeded in putting a birdie about 5m on the 13th hole (par 3) to turn the atmosphere around. And on the last hole 18 (par 4), he made a 3.5m birdie putt, ending the moving day in a good mood. 안전놀이터
Kim Joo-hyung missed the cut at the Sony Open last week because he was caught in a putt, but revealed the possibility of winning the third ‘Top 10’ this season in a week. He won last October and tied for 5th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, his first match this year.
Lim Seong-jae (25, CJ Logistics) only reduced 4 strokes, and his ranking went down 6 places from a tie for 3rd place the previous day to a tie for 9th place (interim total 17 under par 199 strokes). World No. 2 Scotty Schaeffler (USA), who will re-elevate to world No. 1 if he finishes in 9th place or higher alone in this tournament, is tied for 9th with Lim Seong-jae and others. Current world No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) did not participate in this event.
Kim Si-woo (28), who won the Sony Open last week, reduced 3 strokes to become tied for 27th place (intermediate total 13 under par 203 strokes), down 13 steps from the previous day. Kim Si-woo caught 8 birdies, but the 2 double bogies on the 5th hole (par 5) and 17th hole (par 3) were painful. Ahn Byeong-hun (32, CJ Logistics), who was concerned about a miscut, rebounded by 9 strokes that day to a tie for 36th (intermediate total, 12 under par, 204 strokes) from below the top 100.
Lee Gyeong-hoon (32) failed to pass the cut as he was one stroke short of the cut standard of 10 under par. Kang Seong-hun (36, CJ Logistics) and Roh Seung-yeol (32), who had a chance to participate as standby players, also failed to advance to the finals.