‘PGA Hit Card’ Kim Joo-hyung’s 3-Under Par Effort... Fowler ‘Two-Day Leader’

Kim Joo-hyung Tied 26th, 9 Shots Behind on Third Day of Zozo Championship
Fowler Leads at 14 Under, Bradley Second at 13 Under
Kim Si-woo and Matsuyama Tied 31st, Lee Kyung-hoon Tied 47th

Kim Joo-hyung is discussing hole strategy with his caddie on the 4th hole of the third day of the Zozo Championship. Inzai, Japan=Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the spirited effort of Kim Joo-hyung (20), the ‘PGA crowd-puller.’

On the 15th, at the Inzai Narashino Country Club in Chiba Prefecture, Japan (par 70, 7,041 yards), Kim Joo-hyung posted a 3-under-par on the third day of the PGA Tour Zozo Championship (total prize money $11 million), moving up to a tie for 26th place (5-under-par 205). Rickie Fowler leads (14-under-par 196), Keegan Bradley is second (13-under-par 197), and Andrew Putnam (all from the U.S.) is third (12-under-par 198).

Starting from a tie for 34th, Kim recorded five birdies and two bogeys. After ‘stepping stone birdies’ on holes 3 and 5, a bogey on the 7th hole (par 3) was immediately recovered with a birdie on the 8th hole (par 4). In the back nine, he faltered briefly with a bogey on the 10th hole (par 4) but added two birdies on the 16th and 18th holes to secure his final round. He maintained a bunker save rate of 100% and averaged 1.75 putts per hole as his driving force.

At 20 years and 3 months old, Kim drew attention last week by securing his second PGA Tour victory at the Shriners Children’s Open. He entered stardom as a player who won two titles six months younger than the ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (U.S., 20 years 9 months). However, with a 9-shot gap from the leader, a consecutive win is a challenging prospect.

Fowler reduced his score by 4 strokes, maintaining the top of the leaderboard for two consecutive days. Since his fifth career win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2019, Fowler has been stuck in a 3-year and 8-month ‘winless’ drought. Viktor Hovland (Norway) surged with a 6-under-par round to jump to 4th place (11-under-par 199). Cameron Champ (U.S.) is tied for 5th (10-under-par 200). Last year’s champion Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) lowered his score by 4 strokes to climb to a tie for 31st (4-under-par 206).

From Korea, Kim Si-woo (27) reduced his score by one stroke with two birdies and one bogey, tying for 31st place. Lee Kyoung-hoon (31) also shot 1-under-par to sit tied for 47th (2-under-par 208). Im Sung-jae (24), a strong contender for the title, exchanged four birdies for four bogeys and failed to lower his score, tied for 52nd (1-under-par 209) among 78 players. This tournament determines the winner through 72 holes of stroke play over four rounds without a cut-off.

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