CROMWELL, Conn. — Tom Kim made enough birdies on a soft, vulnerable course to stay in front Saturday during the rain-delayed Travelers Championship, rolling back and forth to reach the final stretch near dark at 5-under. 65 and 1 lead over Scottie Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia.
The tone of this pitch-and-putt day at TPC River Highlands was set long before a thunderstorm halted play for nearly three hours. Cameron Young shot 59, his 13th round of sub-60 on the PGA Tour and his first in nearly four years.
Then the rain eased even more, and the wind died down in the late afternoon as Kim, Scheffler and Xander Schauffele raced to beat the darkness.
Scheffler, the world No. 1 player coming off a rare pedestrian outing at the US Open, was brought down by a soft bogey — his putt from No. 11, an increasingly negative drive by No. 14 — and responded with four straight birdies.
“I was frustrated after that 14-year-old, I felt like I was taking myself out of the tournament,” Scheffler said. “So, it was nice to go back and finish it the way I did.”
His tee shot on the 18th bounced back within an inch of the cup, which he finished with a 64. He played with Bhatia, who has two PGA Tour titles in the past 12 months. Bhatia holed a 25-foot birdie putt to match Scheffler at 64.
Schauffele played bogey-free until the final hole when his 3-foot par putt rounded the cup and left him with a 64. He also shot along with Sungjae Im, who made a birdie putt from about 40 feet on the last hole. .
Kim, who turned 22 on Friday, continues to lead a large group of outstanding actors. He was 18-under 192 going into the final round where 10 players were within 5 shots of the lead.
“The leaderboard is stacked,” Kim said. “Out here, 5, 6 leads are never safe. So, I have to go out tomorrow and do the same game plan and do it again.”
The group within 5 shots includes Young, who was tied for 43rd when he arrived at school this morning. He was 5 under through four holes — holed a wedge from 142 yards on No. – foot birdie on the 17th.
He was tied up as he exited the course and continued to assemble when the round ended. The youngster did not see this kind of round coming.
“I did what I do every day when I get to the golf course — I got a coffee, I ate, I saw the physio and I went out there, I warmed up,” he said. “I didn’t feel particularly amazing. I took a little more out of the range than I did yesterday. And then, yeah, I went out and got a lot more comfortable, and things just started going down around the pit.”
Sunday’s times have been moved forward due to more storms in the forecast, meaning the course will not be too intense. The popular lie was active for the second round in a row.
“It feels like you’re going to have to look down more than before,” Schauffele said. “It’s been my motto — ‘Stay in my lane’ — for a long time, and I think tomorrow it’s going to hold true. You can hit any time on this golf course.”
“[You] you should definitely get your birds,” he added. “But I think they’ll be arriving in droves tomorrow.”
Five players had a share of at least one lead at one point, some of which was due to Kim’s single error. He three-putted from 10 feet on the fourth hole, his 3-foot par putt not even touching the hole. But he bounced back with three birdies on the par 3 and a solid chip across the 15th green to set up an easy birdie.
He left the fairway bunker and came up short on the 18th green, and his putt came out short for his final group to stay ahead.
The PGA Tour’s final signature event of the season certainly looks like it has some quality players in the chase — from Scheffler and Schauffele, down to Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry, Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas.
“You can’t separate yourself. Someone will play one shot better than others,” said Bhatia. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings. It’s going to be a good challenge.”
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