Tom Kim takes big strides towards the lead as he matches US Open nine-hole scoring record
South Korean golfer Tom Kim equalled the nine-hole scoring record of the US Open during the third day's play on Saturday. He did it on the front nine, scoring 6-under 29.
Tom Kim achieved the feat with six birdies and no bogey. At that moment, he had a score of -6 (-5 overall) and was approaching the top of the leaderboard.
That's a lot of circles! 😱
Tom Kim has matched the #USOpen nine-hole scoring record. https://t.co/Jm1JW5Bxlw
However, for the back nine, Tom Kim could not keep the same pace. Three bogeys and a single birdie reduced his score to -4, with which he closed the day. With the round still to finish, he is T15.
This means, for now, a jump of 24 positions for him on the leaderboard. No mean feat to celebrate his best round of the tournament (73-68-66).
Six bogeys against three birdies were his first day's score, a not very solid performance, but one that did not take him out of the competition completely. His improvement on the second day (four birdies, two bogeys, -2) allowed him to go into the weekend one stroke over the cut line.
Kim has been a professional since 2018 and officially joined the PGA Tour in 2022. At this level, he has two wins: at the Wyndham Championship and the Shriners Children's Open, both in 2022.
In his time on the PGA Tour, he has finished seven times in the Top 10 and made the cut in 28 of the 35 tournaments he has played. In addition to his victories, his best result was third place in the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open.
The 2023 US Open is his seventh major tournament appearance. His best performance was finishing T16 at the Augusta Masters this season. He had only been to the US Open once before (2022) when he finished 23rd.
Tom Kim and the US Open's nine-hole scoring record
The record of -6 for nine holes (either on the front nine or back nine) was set by Neal Lancaster at the 1995 Shinnecock Hills course.
The mark was achieved three other times before it was matched by Tom Kim on Saturday. None other than Lancaster himself repeated his feat a year later at the Oakland Hills Course. He thus became the only golfer to have been able to do it twice.
Vijay Singh did it in the 2003 edition at Olympia Fields Country Club and the last to do it before this Saturday was Louis Oosthuizen at the Chambers Bay course.