Michael Kim shot a 7-under 64 to extend his lead to five shots after three rounds of play at the John Deere Classic.
Kim, who is ranked No. 473 in the world, closed with five birdies over his final six holes (Nos. 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18) to reach 22-under par, and secure the advantage over a fairly weak leaderboard in terms of world rankings.
“Everything really,” said Kim, when asked about the key to his opening three rounds.
“I’m hitting it good, hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, making a lot of putts, and just been a great three days so far.”
Alone in second was world No. 284 Bronson Burgoon, who posted a 66 to reach 17-under par, one clear of world No. 295 Matt Jones (66) at 16-under par.
How star-poor is the leaderboard at TPC Deere Run? World No. 184 Harold Varner III (66), sitting alone in fourth at 15-under par, is the only player appearing in the top 10 who holds a ranking inside the top 250 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Rounding out the top-5 leaders were world Nos. 292 and 256, respectively, in Andres Romero and Sam Ryder. The duo were one clear of world No. 453 David Hearn who shot a third-round 70 to sit T7, alongside No. 396 Johnson Wagner (70), No. 253 Robert Garrigus (68), No. 298 Joel Dahmen (65), and No. 394 Denny McCarthy (66).
The British Open officially started today with practice rounds.
2018 JOHN DEERE CLASSIC
TOP 10: ROUND 3
1. Michael Kim -22 (-7)
2. Bronson Burgoon -17 (-5)
3. Matt Jones -16 (-5)
4. Harold Varner, III -15 (-5)
5. Andres Romero -14 (-7)
5. Sam Ryder -14 (-4)
7. David Hearn -13 (-1)
7. Johnson Wagner -13 (-1)
7. Robert Garrigus -13 (-3)
7. Joel Dahmen -13 (-6)
7. Denny McCarthy -13 (-5)
NOTABLES
POS-PLAYER-SCORE (TODAY)
12. Francesco Molinari -12 (-1)
30. Austin Cook -9 (-5)
34. Patton Kizzire -8 (-5)
39. Sam Saunders -7 (-4)
39. Andrew Landry -7 (-4)
39. Joaquin Niemann -7 (-4)
39. Zach Johnson -7 (-4)
52. Steve Stricker -6 (E)
62. Ryan Moore -4 (-1)
M2C. Chesson Hadley -3 (+3)
M2C. Bill Haas -3 (E)
HOW MICHAEL KIM SCORED THE LEAD
Driving: 296.1 yards (29th)
Fairways: 35/42, 83.3% (2nd)
Greens: 47/54, 87% (1st)
Scoring: -22 (25 Birdies, 26 Pars, 3 Bogeys)
EXIT QUESTIONS FOR MICHAEL KIM
1. Do you go into the final round feeling like this is your tournament to win when you’re in this type of a situation?
MICHAEL KIM: Yeah. I mean, I’ve got a decent sized lead but a lot can happen in 18 holes, so I’m going to have to stay sharp and keep focused.
2. You look at the scoreboard tomorrow or not?
KIM: At least on the front nine I will try not to. Today I tried not to look at it too much, but it seemed like everywhere I hit it the scoreboard was right next to me. Kind of caught glimpses here and there.
I think front nine probably won’t look at it much; maybe on to the back I’ll take a peak here and there.
