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LOS ANGELES — In a week of U.S. Open record performances, Tom Kim has joined the fun.
Kim was just kind of muddling along through the first two days, making the cut by a shot. He was 1 over after 36 holes, but during Saturday’s third round, under the sunniest of skies so far this week at Los Angeles Country Club, he got hotter than his pink Nike shirt.
Kim birdied the first, third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth holes to get to 5 under overall halfway through his round.
2️⃣9️⃣
Tom Kim is making a big move at LACC. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/gS36nB0Y8h
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2023
His front-nine 29 ties the 9-hole scoring mark, as well.
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It’s the fifth time a golfer posted a 29 in U.S. Open history.
Lowest 9-hole scores in a U.S. Open
- Neal Lancaster, final round, Shinnecock Hills, 1995
- Neal Lancaster, second round, Oakland Hills, 1996
- Vijay Singh, second round, Olympia Fields, 2003
- Louis Oosthuizen, final round, Chambers Bay, 2015
- Tom Kim, third round, LACC, 2023
Already this week, fans have been treated to three holes-in-one (the 49th, 50th and 51st aces in U.S. Open history) as well as a pair of 62s, one by Rickie Fowler and the other by Xander Schauffele. Fowler’s second-round 68 gave him a two-day total of 130, which ties the 36-hole mark at the U.S. Open.
Back to Kim. He made another birdie on No. 10 to get to 6 under but then things started to get challenging.
“That back nine is really hard,” he said. Kim shot a 2-over 37 on the back and finished with a 66, his best round of the week. “You just don’t really have any bail-outs. Those three bogeys [on Nos. 13, 15, 16] really don’t feel like bogeys because I barely missed it by a yard or two. But major championship golf, U.S. Open really brings it out of you.
“If you told me at the start of the day, I’d take that score.”