By Christopher Powers
On multiple occasions, this season, a relatively unknown player has given himself a legitimate chance at a breakthrough victory through 54 holes. Last week it was Kelly Kraft at The Greenbrier, and the week before that Mexico’s Abraham Ancer held a share of the 54-hole lead at the Quicken Loans National. Then there was Andrew Putnam, who had the unfortunate task of going up against Dustin Johnson at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in the final round.

What all three had in common is that Sunday didn’t go quite as planned, leaving them empty-handed walking off the 72nd green. Michael Kim, another young, under-the-radar player, hopes to buck that trend this week at the John Deere Classic and has given himself a good chance at doing so. After opening with rounds of 63 and 64, Kim fired a third-round seven-under 64 at TPC Deere Run on Saturday despite two suspensions of play due to inclement weather. It puts him 22-under 191, extending his lead to five heading into the final round.

Kim, who turned 25 on Saturday, has finished in the top 10 just once in 83 starts on the PGA Tour, that result coming in October of 2016 when he opened his season with a T-3 at the Safeway Open. Since then the 2013 Haskins Award winner has finished no better than T-12 (2017 Houston Open), and he’s recently missed five of his last six cuts. It’s been a below average year overall for Kim, but he could make it a memorable one with one more solid round on Sunday.

Kim’s closest pursuer is Bronson Burgoon, a former standout at Texas A&M who hasn’t found much success in his limited time on the PGA Tour. Burgoon vaulted up the leaderboard on Friday with a nine-under 62, then backed it up with a five-under 66 on Saturday and now finds himself in solo second at 17-under 196.

Matt Jones’ five-under 66 has him in solo third at 16-under 197. He’s in search of his second victory on tour, the last coming in miraculous, walk-off fashion at the 2014 Houston Open.

After struggling in the final round at The Greenbrier and eventually tying for fifth, Harold Varner III has put himself in contention once again, posting a five-under 66. He’s in solo fourth at 15-under 198, seven back.

Andres Romero, who is making just his second start on tour this season, carded a seven-under 64 to get to 14-under 199. He’s joined by Sam Ryder, who shot a six-under 65.

The post Michael Kim keeps it rolling with third-round 64, leads by five at the John Deere Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
After a slow start in the third round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, Kelly Kraft finally got going as he made the turn at the Old White TPC, making three straight birdies at the 10th, 11th and 12th holes. Even with some intriguing names lurking a few shots behind, it appeared like it might be becoming Kraft’s week.

But a late-round stumble that saw Kraft make bogeys at 16 and 18 has opened the tournament back up to some other players looking for similar breakthroughs. First, there is Harold Varner III, who carded a four-under 66 that included a back-nine 32, putting him at 14-under 196, which he later found out was good enough to be tied for the lead through 54 holes.

“Super pleased,” said Varner, whose first birdie did not come until the par-4 11th. “I hung in there on the front nine, a lot of pars, and just got it going on the back, and now I’ve got an opportunity to win a golf tournament.”

It’s an opportunity the happy-go-lucky 27-year-old hasn’t had many of in his still nascent PGA Tour career, especially this season, which has featured just one top 10. That’s why he’s cherishing every moment, and that always upbeat attitude could be what propels him to his first career win on tour.

“I like having fun,” he said. “This is what we play for, enjoy it, and look forward to this. Unless you’re Tiger, you don’t get many looks at this. You’re not going to do any good being negative. I’m going to live for this moment. You’ve got to be positive. You have to be really good at golf to be negative and still perform.”

Varner will play in the final group with Kraft, who still finished with a one-under 69 despite limping into the clubhouse.

Two players just one back at 13-under 197, including defending champion Xander Schauffele, who made an eagle at the par-5 17th and finished with a five-under 65. He’s tied with Kevin Na, who also carded a five-under 65 and has put himself in position to win for just the second time in his career.

“Every time I get in contention, I’m hungry to win,” said Na, whose only win came at the Shriners in 2011. “When I won, it took me eight years, and I told everybody that it will not take that long to win my second one, and I’m running out of time. Hopefully I get this done.”

Sam Saunders, another player looking for his first win, is two back at 12-under 198. Bubba Watson, Joel Dahmen and Anirban Lahiri are tied for sixth at 11-under 199.

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