Golfer Cameron Young fires 59 but South Korea’s Tom Kim leads PGA Travelers Championship

NEW YORK – Cameron Young became the 12th player in PGA Tour history to break 60 for a round on June 22, but his 11-under 59 still left him chasing Travelers Championship leader Tom Kim.

Young had walked off the course with a share of the lead early in the third round at 13-under 197 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.

But South Korea’s Kim, who took a two-shot lead into the round, shook off a near three-hour rain delay to card a second straight 65, his 18-under total of 192 putting him one stroke in front of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia, who both carded 64s.

Kim shook off an early three-putt bogey, coming up with six birdies on the rain-softened course and salvaging par from a fairway bunker at No. 18 as darkness fell, to keep his nose in front.

Kim, who turned 22 on June 21, said staying in front in what promises to be a June 23 shoot-out would be “all about just execution”.

He said: “I’m going to go out tomorrow with the same game plan and try to do the things that I’ve been doing. If it’s good enough, it’s great but, if someone’s better than that, I can’t do anything about it.”

Scheffler, who won his second US Masters title in April, had two bogeys after the weather delay, but closed with four straight birdies to put himself in the hunt.

“I was pretty frustrated after that bogey on 14. Felt like I was putting myself out of the tournament. So it was nice to bounce back and finish it the way I did,” he said.

Bhatia, a two-time PGA Tour winner, rolled in a 26-foot birdie putt at 18 for his share of second.

Xander Schauffele also carded a 64 to share fourth on 194 with South Korean Im Sung-jae (63). Collin Morikawa (66) was a further stroke back on 195.

Young, runner-up at the 2022 British Open, was five shots off the pace in joint-seventh after seven birdies and two eagles.

“It’s certainly pretty cool. It’s fun to have your name on a list that short,” said Young, who added that he’ll “pretty much try to forget it” on June 23 as he pursues a first PGA Tour title.

His round was the PGA Tour’s first 59 since Scheffler achieved the feat at the 2020 St Jude Championship.

He got things going early with birdies at the first and second, then holed out from 142 yards in the fairway for an eagle at the par-four third.

He followed a 19-foot birdie at the fourth with birdies at the eighth and ninth, two putted for birdie at the par-five 13th then eagled the par-four 15th, where his tee shot bounced short of the green and rolled up to leave him a four-foot putt.

He missed a birdie chance at 16 but drilled a five-footer at 17. He preserved his sub-60 round with a testing par putt from outside nine feet at the last.

Young said he knew by the time he made the turn, his round was “just, like, really good”.

He added: “I didn’t think about it too much kind of the middle of that back nine... Then all of a sudden I had a putt for 59 on 18 which was a blast.”

Meanwhile, two people were taken to hospital on June 22 after a lightning strike near a home at TPC River Highlands, the local fire department said.

A statement from Cromwell Fire Department said the town’s police department began receiving emergency calls regarding a lightning strike at a house located near the course’s fifth green around 4.26pm – about an hour after play was halted because of thunderstorms. AFP