LA QUINTA, Cali — A week after a disappointing missed cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Tom Kim has found his game and found the leaderboard at the American Express.
Kim followed up a brilliant 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday with a solid 5-under 67 on the much tougher Stadium Course at PGA West on Saturday. In all, Kim, a star on the International Team of the Presidents Cup last year, is now 18 under for the week and in the mix as the tournament moves to the final round on the Stadium Course on Sunday.
But the round might have been derailed Saturday if not for a brilliant recovery for a birdie on the 12th hole, where Kim did not hit a great drive.
“A hundred percent. I was in a tough spot. I didn’t hit a really good 2-iron off the tee,” Kim said. “I pulled it left in that bunker literally a hundred yards right. Put myself in a spot that I couldn’t be in. I was on a bogey train (bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes).
But the recovery shot from the bunker saved the round.
“Hitting a really good wedge shot from the bunker to give myself a chance for birdie and making that putt kind of calmed me down a little bit to kind of just cruise through the back nine,” Kim said.
Kim was disappointed in the missed cut at the Sony, but used it as a learning experience that he has to just play better and take care of his game better if he wants to become a consistent contender on the PGA Tour.
“I just try to stick to my game plan. Don’t really like to think about that. You play good golf, it’s going to take care of everything,” Kim said. “So I just try to play my game. Having Joe on the bag kind of helps me just stick to my game plan.”
Flirting with 59
It was one of those rounds that can get lost in the haze of birdies and eagles at the American Express, but Dylan Wu’s 11-under 61 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West is deserving of some merit.
The 61 tied the record for the low round on the Nicklaus Course in the tournament. That was set last year in the second round by Will Zalatoris. What made Wu’s round intriguing was that with two holes remaining he was at 11-under, meaning with two closing birdies — which would have given him eight birdies in a row, he would have shot 59.
Instead, Wu hit his tee shot to 60 feet on the par-3 eighth, his 17th hole of the day, and managed a two-putt for a par. That took 59 out of play, but Wu then parred the par-4 ninth hole as well. That still gave Wu the low round of…
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