Seonghyun Kim Tied 8th, 5 Shots Behind After 3rd Round at Sanderson Farms Championship
Hughes 2nd, Straka and Stalings Among Three Tied for 3rd
Dietrich Tied 15th, Defending Champ Burns Tied 34th
Kim Seong-hyun is reading the putting line on the 17th hole on the third day of the Sanderson Farms Championship. Jackson (USA) = Getty Images / Multibits
[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] The tenacity of rookie Kim Seong-hyun (24).
On the 1st (local time), at the Country Club of Jackson (par 72, 7,461 yards) in Jackson, Mississippi, USA, Kim Seong-hyun surged with a 6-under-par on the third day of the Sanderson Farms Championship (total prize money $7.9 million), the second event of the 2022/2023 PGA Tour season, climbing to a tie for 8th place (10-under-par 206 strokes). Mark Hubbard (USA) leads (15-under-par 201 strokes), Mackenzie Hughes (Canada) is second (14-under-par 202 strokes), and Sepp Straka (Austria) and Scott Stallings (USA) share third place (12-under-par 204 strokes).
Starting from a tie for 31st place, 6 strokes behind, Kim Seong-hyun collected 8 birdies (2 bogeys). He made his first birdie on the 1st hole (par 4) and recorded three consecutive birdies from the 3rd to 5th holes, reducing 4 strokes in the front nine. In the back nine, he created momentum by making two pairs of consecutive birdies on the 11th-12th and 14th-15th holes. However, bogeys on the 16th and final 18th holes (both par 4) were disappointing. He relied on his ‘pinpoint iron shots’ with a green hit rate of 88.89%. He is 5 strokes behind the leader.
Kim Seong-hyun is a player who has won two professional titles in Korea and Japan, both majors: the 2020 KPGA Korean Tour KPGA Championship and last year’s Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) Japan PGA Championship. On the final day of the JGTO Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament, he recorded a ‘dream 58’, drawing the spotlight. After playing on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour last season, he joined the PGA Tour this year. Two weeks ago, he finished tied for 36th at the season-opening Fortinet Championship.
Hubbard showed perfect play with 7 birdies and no bogeys. Although he joined the PGA Tour in 2015, he has yet to win a title. Thomas Detry (Belgium), who was co-leader the previous day, lost 2 strokes and dropped to a tie for 15th place (8-under-par 208 strokes). Defending champion Sam Burns (USA) made 5 birdies and 4 bogeys, finishing at 1-under-par. He is tied for 34th place (6-under-par 210 strokes).
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