Hovland Leads by 6 Shots... "FedEx Cup Champion Reserved"

PO Final Tour Championship 3R 4 Under Par
Shoply 2nd, Scheffler 5th, McIlroy 8th
Kim Juhyung 24th, Im Sungjae and Kim Siwoo Tied 25th

Viktor Hovland (Norway) has ‘claimed’ the FedEx Cup champion title.

On the 26th (local time), Hovland posted a 4-under-par in the third round of the Tour Championship, the final third leg of the 2022/2023 PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs held at East Lake Golf Club (par 70, 7,346 yards) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, firmly maintaining his lead at 20-under-par. Xander Schauffele is in second place at 14-under-par, while Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley (both USA) are tied for third at 13-under-par.

Victor Hovland is walking on the fairway at the 5th hole during the 3rd round of the Tour Championship, the final third FedEx Cup Playoff event. [Atlanta, USA = AP·Yonhap News]

Only 30 players compete in the Tour Championship, with starting scores adjusted based on FedEx Cup rankings. The No. 1 FedEx Cup ranked player receives a stroke bonus of 10-under-par. Players ranked 2nd to 5th start between 8 and 5 under par, 6th to 10th at 4 under par, 11th to 15th at 3 under par, 16th to 20th at 2 under par, 21st to 25th at 1 under par, and 26th to 30th start at even par. The winner earns $18 million (approximately 23.9 billion KRW), while the last place still receives $500,000 (approximately 660 million KRW).

Hovland started tied for the lead, two strokes behind, and recorded five birdies and one bogey. He reduced two strokes in the front nine with consecutive birdies on holes 6 and 7, and added more momentum with back-to-back birdies on holes 12 and 13 in the back nine. After a bogey on the 14th hole (par 4), Hovland recovered with a birdie on the 15th hole (par 3), and parred the remaining three holes. Leading by six strokes, Hovland is on track for his third win of the season and sixth career victory, following last week’s BMW Championship win.

Jon Rahm (Spain) and Wyndham Clark (USA) are tied for fifth place at 11-under-par. FedEx Cup No. 1 ranked Scottie Scheffler (USA) struggled with a 3-over-par round, dropping to a tie for fifth. Defending champion Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) lost one stroke and is tied for eighth at 9-under-par, along with Patrick Cantlay (USA).

From Korea, ‘PGA crowd-puller’ Kim Joo-hyung recorded four birdies, two bogeys, and two double bogeys, losing two strokes and falling to 24th place at 3-under-par. Last year’s runner-up Im Sung-jae added two under par to tie for 24th place at 2-under-par with a total score of 210. Kim Si-woo also lowered his score by two strokes, joining this group.

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