Travelers
Cromwell, CT, June 23: Akshay Bhatia stayed on the heels of Tim Kim, the leader at the Travelers Championship on the PGA TOUR. Bhatia, who already has a win this season and overall two PGA wins, has been right behind Kim since the first round.
Kim put himself on the brink of etching his name into PGA TOUR history books once again after a 5-under 65 in the third round. Kim, who turned 22 on Friday, rebounded from an early bogey, his first all week at TPC River Highlands, with six birdies to finish the weather-disrupted day on 18-under 192 and ahead of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Indian American Bhatia, who both signed for matching 64s.
Another Indian American Sahith Theegala (67) was T-30.
Cameron Young also made headlines by becoming the only 12th different player to shoot a sub-60 round in the PGA TOUR history. Young marked his bogey-free card with two eagles and seven birdies, navigating through the day with just 24 putts.
Bhatia has been playing superbly and had seven birdies against one bogey in his 64, the same as the first day. On second day he had a 65 an is now 17-under to leader Kim’s 18-under.
Scheffler (65-64-64) is also 17-under.
Another Korean Sungjae Im fired a fine 63, which included a monster birdie putt at the last hole, to lie a further shot back alongside PGA champion Xander Schauffele (64) and Collin Morikawa (66).
Bhatia is chasing a third PGA Tour and a second one in 2024.
Chasing a fourth PGA TOUR win, Kim is attempting to become the fifth youngest player in history to reach four wins at the age of 22 years and 2 days. The other players to accomplish the feat by the age of 22 were Horton Smith, Gene Sarazen, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Harry Cooper.
A near three-hour weather delay midway through the third round appeared pivotal for Kim, who returned back on course firing on all cylinders after the resumption. Kim was one-under through six holes when play was suspended at 3:30pm, before hitting four more birdies in his remaining 12 holes.
Kim insisted he feels no pressure despite many of the world’s best golfers breathing down his neck, including his close friend Scheffler, who has already won five times this season. Despite dropping two strokes, the FedExCup points list leader fought back with eight birdies.
