[The Open] Kim Siwoo's Power "Seen the 5-Under?"... McIlroy and Hovland Tied for Lead, 4 Shots Behind

150th Open Day 3: 'Number 1' Scheffler Ties for 5th, Smith and Young Tied for 3rd, 'LIV Faction' Johnson 7th

Siwoo Kim is walking on the 2nd hole on the third day of the 150th Open. St Andrews (Scotland) = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] This is the resilience of Kim Si-woo (27), ranked 69th in the world.

On the 17th (Korean time), at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland (par 72, 7,313 yards), the third day of the 150th Open, the final major of the year (total prize money $14 million), Kim surged with a 5-under-par round to leap to a tie for 5th place (11-under-par 205 strokes). World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and ‘Taekwondo Man’ Viktor Hovland (Norway) share the lead (16-under-par 200 strokes), while Cameron Smith (Australia) and Cameron Young (USA) are tied for 3rd place (12-under-par 204 strokes).

Starting from a tie for 12th place, 7 strokes behind, Kim Si-woo collected six birdies (one bogey). He got off to a start with ‘stepping stone birdies’ on holes 5 and 7, followed by a birdie on hole 10 and back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15. After a bogey on hole 16, he took a brief breather, then finished strong with a birdie on the final 18th hole (all par 4s). He is 5 strokes behind the joint leaders, positioned to aim for his 4th career win, his first in 1 year and 6 months since winning the American Express in January last year.

Kim Si-woo is known as the ‘Korean golf prodigy’ who started golf at age 6. In 2012, at the age of 17, he passed the PGA Tour Qualifying (Q) School, earning the honor of being the ‘youngest qualifier.’ However, due to the ‘age restriction (18 years)’ rule, he was unable to properly compete and had to return to the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour, where he struggled for 3 years. In 2013, he was also unlucky as the Q School was abolished. Fortunately, in 2015, he returned to the PGA Tour by finishing 10th on the Korn Ferry Tour money list.

In August 2016, he earned his first career victory at the Wyndham Championship, and in May 2017, he won ‘the 5th major,’ The Players Championship, instantly rising to world stardom. This season, he has played in 24 tournaments, with a tie for 8th place at the Sanderson Farms Championship last October being his only ‘top 10.’ He suffered the humiliation of missing the cut in three consecutive tournaments recently, including last week’s Genesis Scottish Open qualifying. However, he has laid the groundwork for a turnaround at The Open.

Rory McIlroy (left) and Viktor Hovland are playing together on the 15th hole on the third day of the 150th Open. St Andrews (Scotland) = Getty Images / Multibits

McIlroy recorded one eagle, five birdies, and one bogey. This marks his third win of the season and 22nd career victory since winning the RBC Canadian Open last month. Hovland also reduced his score by 6 strokes, joining the battle for the title. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is tied for 5th place, and LIV Golf star Dustin Johnson (both USA) is in 7th place (10-under-par 206 strokes). From Korea, Kim Joo-hyung (20) is tied for 35th place (4-under-par 212 strokes), and Im Sung-jae (24) is tied for 77th place (2-over-par 218 strokes).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.