Kim Young-su Tied for 41st... Ancer Leads by 2 Strokes

Asian Tour PIF Saudi International Round 3

‘Korean Tour Money Leader’ Kim Young-soo (photo) is showing a strong performance.

On the 4th (local time), Kim Young-soo added 2 under par on the third day of the Asian Tour 2023 season opener, the PIF Saudi International (total prize money $5 million), held at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (par 70, 7,048 yards) in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, rising to a tie for 41st place (3 under par, 207 strokes).

This tournament is a ‘big match’ on the Asian Tour hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). It started in 2019 as the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), but after the launch of LIV Golf supported by PIF last year, the relationship between the DP World Tour and PIF soured, leading to the event switching to the Asian Tour.

Kim Young-soo started tied for 49th and recorded three birdies and one bogey. After a birdie on the 4th hole (par 5) was offset by a bogey on the 5th hole (par 4), he made ‘stepping stone birdies’ on the 7th and 9th holes. However, it was disappointing that he made par on all the remaining nine holes. He is four strokes behind the group tied for 10th, still with a chance to aim for a ‘top 10’ finish.

LIV Golf member Abraham Ancer (Mexico) swept up six birdies, maintaining his position at the top of the leaderboard for the third consecutive day (17 under par, 193 strokes). PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Cameron Young (USA) reduced his score by five strokes and is looking to overtake in second place, two strokes behind (15 under par, 195 strokes). Matthew Wolff is tied for 3rd (10 under par, 200 strokes), Jason Kokrak (both USA) is 6th (9 under par, 201 strokes), Mark Leishman (Australia) is tied for 7th (8 under par, 202 strokes), and Ian Poulter (England) is tied for 10th (7 under par, 203 strokes).

From Korea, Park Sang-hyun, who was tied for 19th the previous day, lost two strokes and slipped to a tie for 45th place (2 under par, 208 strokes). Moon Kyung-jun shot 1 under par to join this group. Lee Tae-hee exchanged three birdies for three bogeys and could not reduce his score, tied for 55th (even par, 210 strokes).