For the second consecutive day, the 2024 Travelers Championship experienced a long suspension of play as players were pulled off the golf course due to severe weather at 3:30 p.m. ET only to return 2 hours and 50 minutes later. Leading as he stepped off the golf course for the delay, Tom Kim kept his wits about himself Saturday and stepped off the 18th green with the lead for the third straight day.
Carding a 5-under 65 in Round 3, the 22-year-old sits at 18 under and one clear of Scottie Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia heading into Sunday's deciding round. A win at TPC River Highlands would represent the fourth — and most certainly the biggest — of Kim's young career, but it will have to be earned with the number of stars that lurk.
After experiencing a somewhat sloppy restart with a couple of bogeys on the initial portion of his inward half, Scheffler surged late with five birdies in his last six holes to push his name back into contention at 17 under. Sharing a birthday, practice rounds and time off the golf course with Kim, the two will now share a final round tee time together as they wrestle for the last signature event title of the season.
Scheffler drafted off the momentum of his playing partner, Bhatia, who kept pace and will round out that final threesome on Sunday thanks to back-to-back birdies on Nos. 17-18. Meanwhile, Sungjae Im seeks his first win on the PGA Tour in over two years from two adrift at 16 under is alongside the 2022 champion Xander Schauffele at that number thanks to a closing 40-foot birdie effort.
In total, there are 10 players within five strokes of Kim's lead after 54 holes with heavy hitters like Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Shane Lowry, Patrick Cantlay and Mr. 59 himself, Cameron Young, all jostling for one of the biggest trophies on the PGA Tour playing calendar.
The leader
1. Tom Kim (-18)
It took him 40 holes, but Kim dropped his first (and only) shot of this tournament when he 3 putted from 11 feet on the par-4 4th. Things could have started to move quickly for the young gun as names like Scheffler, Schauffele and Morikawa made their moves and pushed Kim out of the lead for the first time since Thursday. He hung tough, however, and played his last 14 holes in 6 under to secure a one-stroke lead with one round to play.
"I'm going to go out tomorrow with the same game plan and try to do the things that I've been doing and if it's good enough, it's great, but if someone's better than that, I can't do anything about it. So just kind of go in with the expectation of there's just, it's a stacked leaderboard, out here a 5-, 6-shot lead is not safe at all. So I got to go out tomorrow and do the same game plan and execute."
Other contenders
T2. Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia (-17)
T4. Xander Schauffele, Sungjae Im (-16)
6. Collin Morikawa (-15)
T7. Tony Finau, Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas (-14)
T10. Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay (-13)
For a part of the back nine, Scheffler looked a little out of sorts as he dropped a shot on a short par 3 and missed a tee shot wide leading to another. As far as three off the lead at one stage, the five-time winner this season put on his hard hat and got to work. Five birdies over the course of his final six holes including a laser into the tricky par-4 17th and another to tap-in distance on his finisher positioned the Texan beautifully for another sprint to the winner's circle.
"Sometimes when you're in pairs you can feed off each other the wrong or the right way," Scheffler said. "Today, especially at the end, we were feeding off each other what I would say in the right way. It's always a good thing."
Cameron Young cards the round of the season
The former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year became the 13th player in PGA Tour history to card a sub-60 round Saturday at TPC River Highlands. After playing his first four holes in a 5-under fashion, Cameron Young added a couple birdies on his front nine to turn in 28. A birdie on No. 13 was followed by his second eagle of the round on the short par-4 15th. One last circle was put on his scorecard on the par-4 17th meaning a par on the last was good enough for Young's 59. Coming into the week, Young had carded nine straight rounds at par-or-worse and coming into today, he didn't feel particularly great about his chances either. That's just golf.
"Woke up, would have preferred to go back to sleep," Young said. "Did exactly what I do every day coming to the golf course, get a coffee, ate, saw the physio, and went out there, warmed up. Didn't feel particularly awesome. I chunked a few less on the range than I did yesterday. Then, yeah, came out and just was very comfortable and things just started coming down close to the hole."
2024 Travelers Championship updated odds and picks
- Scottie Scheffler: 3/2
- Tom Kim: 7/2
- Xander Schauffele: 5-1
- Akshay Bhatia: 7-1
- Sungjae Im: 12-1
- Collin Morikawa: 12-1
Kim has been the best player this week in all the right areas. He's holing putts with consistency, splitting fairways, and striking his approach shots close. He shouldn't be phased by the pairing with Scheffler as the two are good friends and he has plenty of horsepower to get to a winning score that may touch 25 under.
Patrick McDonald recaps moving day at the 2024 Travelers Championship. Follow & listen to The First Cut onApple PodcastsandSpotify.
