Washington (United States) (AFP) – Michael Kim drained a 24-foot birdie putt at his final hole on Friday to post a 12-under par 59 at the 3M Open, the 16th sub-60 round ever on the US PGA Tour. Kim birdied the last four holes at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, lifting both arms in triumph when the putt rolled in before unleashing a mighty fist-pump. The Seoul-born American had 12 birdies without a bogey and walked off the course with a 14-under par total and a three-shot lead. Kim is just the 15th golfer to reach the magic number of 59 on the US tour. One of those 59s belongs to Jim Furyk — who also shot a tour-record 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship.
“I kind of remember thinking on 18 that you have to go for it, 60 or 61 doesn’t really make too much of a difference,” said Kim, whose previous best round was a 62. “To shoot 59 today was pretty cool and feels like I’m part of the history books.” Kim’s sensational day included five birdies in a row from the third through the seventh holes, a run launched with an 11-foot birdie putt at the third. He made a 12-footer at the par-three fourth, landed his approach within five feet and made that at the fifth, sank a 10-foot birdie at the sixth and a two-footer at seven. He added back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th and one more at 12 before launching his closing burst with a birdie from just inside 12 feet at the 15th. He kept it going with a 13-foot birdie at 16 and drilled a 17-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th.
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“I made a really nice birdie putt on 16,” Kim said. “It had a lot of break to it and it went in dead center. There’s a lot of water on 17 and 18 and I just kind of told myself like hey, this is the way — this is the moment to get into the history books and let’s go for it, let’s not try to luck our way into it, let’s try to step up and hit some really good shots.”
– ‘Awesome feeling’ – Despite the scoreline, Kim said he didn’t feel like he was firing on all cylinders throughout the round. “Funny enough, some shots I didn’t feel like supremely confident over, but that’s kind of golf,” he said. “I was kind of happy I got away with par on 13. But other parts of my game, like my putting felt fantastic. When you hit a putt and it does exactly what you kind of envisioned before you hit it, it’s an awesome feeling. Felt like that all day out there.”
Kim, who won last September’s French Open on the DP World Tour and his only PGA Tour title at the 2018 John Deere Classic, said he would return to the practice range to “wind down” and try to refocus for the weekend. “Today was an awesome day, but still I’m only halfway there,” the 33-year-old said.
© 2024 AFP
