05/22/26 07:33:00
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05/22 19:31 CDT Si Woo Kim just misses history at Byron Nelson, settling for 60
after a bogey on the final hole
Si Woo Kim just misses history at Byron Nelson, settling for 60 after a bogey
on the final hole
By SCHUYLER DIXON
AP Sports Writer
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) --- Si Woo Kim just missed out on a 59 at the CJ Cup Byron
Nelson on Friday, bogeying the final hole when a par would have given him the
16th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.
The 30-year-old South Korean put himself in position to break 60 with a curling
17-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 17th hole at TPC Craig Ranch.
It was his 12th birdie of the day, putting him at 12 under on the par-71 layout.
Kim was in the fairway on the 18th, but blasted his second shot over the green.
His chip coming back stopped about 19 feet short of the hole, and his putt for
par lacked pace and broke to the right for his only bogey of the day. Kim shot
11-under 60 for a five-shot lead at 18-under 124 after two rounds.
The 18th hole at Craig Ranch --- about 30 miles north of Dallas --- is a par 4
for the first time in the six Nelson tournaments it has hosted. A $25 million
overhaul designed by Lanny Wadkins changed it from a par 5, and it has played
as the hardest hole on the course through two rounds.
Most of the rest of the holes are as easy as they've been in the past ---
despite more bunkers along the fairways and contours on the greens. Part of the
the reason is soft conditions from a rainy opening day and calm winds that
aren't supposed to pick up on the weekend, either. Because of the rain on
Thursday, players were still allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls
in the fairway.
Kim, playing with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner
Brooks Koepka, took full advantage.
The four-time PGA Tour winner who lives in Dallas already had seven birdies
through 10 holes when he put his 166-yard approach shot at the par-4 11th
inside 3 feet.
Needing just one birdie over the final three holes for a 59, Kim missed by
inches on the par-4 16th. Hopes dimmed with his tee shot on the stadium hole at
17, until he dazzled by far the biggest of any of the galleries on the course
with a perfect putt.
"I hit it great and putted great," Kim said. "So everything was perfect, other
than the last hole. I'll still take it. Sixty is hard, but I was a little bit
of thinking about the 59 after I make that on 17. It was a little bit of like
adrenaline."
Jim Furyk has the PGA Tour's 18-hole record with his 58 from the 2016 Travelers
Championship at TPC River Highlands. A 59 has been recorded 14 times, including
by Furyk and Scheffler, who shot his at TPC Boston in 2020. That was two years
before the first of his 20 tour wins, and four major victories.
"I definitely wasn't going to tell him anything about his round today as we
were out there," Scheffler said. "I would say it would definitely be in poor
taste to remind somebody they're on 59 watch."
The 59 watch overshadowed Scheffler's 8-under 63, which included a stretch
where he was 5 under over four holes with a 45-foot eagle putt.
Scheffler was five shots back in second place, tied at 13 under with Kim's
fellow South Korean, Sungjae Im, Japan's Kensei Hirata and Wyndham Clark. Im
aced the par-3 seventh and shot 61.
"I feel like, when you're watching somebody like Si Woo, especially when you're
paired with him, just watching somebody birdie every hole and you feel like the
tournament is getting further and further away from you," said Scheffler, who
had a runaway eight-shot victory at his hometown Byron Nelson last year. "I
think I did a good job of staying patient and not forcing things."
Kim said he chose a hard 6-iron over a 5-iron for the approach on 18, and said
the chip might have been too clean because it had too much spin and stopped
sooner than he hoped.
"Yeah, it was a tough shot," Kim said. "But I'll take it still --- 60."
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