Tom Kim of South Korea and Adam Hadwin of Canada posted monster rounds Saturday to vault into a three-way tie with Lanto Griffin atop the leaderboard of the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.
Kim fired a 9-under-par 62, one better than Hadwin’s 63, as both sit at 15 under after 54 holes. Kim jumped 25 spots up the leaderboard on moving day while Hadwin improved 19 spots. Griffin, the co-leader after two rounds, shot 68.
Three players are one shot back in a tie for fourth, and another four golfers sit tied for seventh just two shots off the lead, including Switzerland’s Callum Tarren, who matched Kim’s 62 for low round of the day. Tarren vaulted 41 spots up the leaderboard and into contention.
Another seven players are just three back and tied for 11th.
Adding to Kim’s phenomenal round is that he carded two bogeys — and an eagle — to go with nine birdies.
“Tee to green, I was really solid. Gave myself a lot of looks,” Kim said. “Just felt really comfortable over the ball. That was the biggest thing. I wasn’t rushing anything. I wasn’t trying to force anything. I was just really calm, and yeah, just a great day.”
Hadwin, playing in his first tournament since the BMW Championship in late August, turned in a clean card with his eight birdies.
“I would like to say I was rusty, but I think based on the scores, I don’t feel very rusty,” Hadwin said. “Certainly rejuvenated. You take that amount of time off, I was ready to come back and see where I was at and get into competition again.”
Tarren fashioned a round of nine birdies and an eagle playing with Isaiah Salinda, who carded a 63 as the pair were among those tied for seventh at 13 under.
“We just fed off each other, really,” Tarren said. “It was super fun. I said to him on 18, ‘This has been a good day for us both.’ It’s just crazy. But the momentum was on our side today, and to produce 9- and 8-under is pretty good going.”
Taylor Pendrith of Canada (65), Vince Whaley (65) and K.H. Lee of South Korea (66) all sit tied for fourth at 14 under.
Second-round co-leader Cameron Champ shot 74, falling into a tie for 24th at 9 under.
–Field Level Media
