Assured show: Thomas had four birdies on the front nine.
A blemishless steady third round helped Justin Thomas turn in a card of six-under 66 and edge a stroke ahead of overnight leader Scottie Scheffler, going into the final round of the Hero World Challenge, at the Albany course on Saturday.
Thomas, whose last win on the Tour was the 2022 PGA Championships, had four birdies on the front nine in a round laced with some clean driving and assured putting on a day that saw some murky weather play its part.
After the steady stream of birdies on Friday, Scheffler just had four for the round and the 13th hole literally proved to be a bogey for the defending champion as he ended the penultimate day on 200 over 54 holes.
Though these two Major winners held the attention, the player who was the cynosure of all eyes was South Korea’s Tom Kim.
On song: Kim registered an incredible 12 birdies.
The 22-year-old, who has three Tour wins to his name, registered an incredible 12 birdies and was on course to overhaul Rickie Fowler’s tournament record of 61 for a round before a double bogey on the 17th scuttled his chance. Kim’s stupendous effort vaulted him seven places to third at 201.
Rounding out the top five was Keegan Bradley, who stayed put at fourth spot with a 203, a stroke ahead of Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia, the latter slipping three rungs from his overnight joint-second position.
“Yeah, yeah, that would be great. I’ve had a couple opportunities in the past, but it’s definitely something I’d love to check off my box in my career at some point,” said Thomas on the possibility of breaking the win drought and receiving the trophy from Tiger Woods.
Leading scores (after third round): 199: Justin Thomas (66, 67, 66); 200: Scottie Scheffler (67, 64, 69); 201: Tom Kim (74, 65, 62); 203: Keegan Bradley (68, 67, 68).
(The writer is in Nassau at the invitation of Hero MotoCorp)
Published – December 08, 2024 05:24 pm IST
