Justin Thomas carded a bogey-free 66 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
A field of 20 players is at Albany Golf Club for the exclusive exhibition event hosted by Tiger Woods. Thomas finished Saturday at 6-under par 66 and is 17-under 199 for the tournament entering Sunday’s final round.
Thomas birdied four of his first nine holes Saturday, including two straight on Nos. 6 and 7, before tacking on two more at Nos. 14 and 16.
The 31-year-old would secure his first win since the PGA Championship in May 2022 if he can hold off World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (69 on Saturday), who sits in second place at 16 under.
“Yeah, it would be great (to get the win),” Thomas said. “I’ve been progressing nicely, been working on all the right things. Feel like I’ve been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that’s all I can do. I can’t control everybody else or what’s going on, I’ve just got to keep playing as good as I possibly can and hope that it’s enough come Sunday.”
Tom Kim carded the round of the day (a 10-under 62) to move into third place as he continues to soar up the leaderboard following a shaky first round.
The South Korean finished Thursday tied for 18th after slogging to a 2-over 74 but has bounced back nicely, notching a 7-under 65 on Friday to climb into 10th before posting another strong showing on Saturday.
Kim birdied his first four holes and was at 11 under for the round after notching three more birdies on Nos. 14-16. He stumbled to a double-bogey on the par-3 17th but recovered with his 12th birdie on the final hole to remain two shots back of Thomas heading into Sunday.
“Did a lot of good things to keep my momentum going,” Kim said. “Had a few crucial par saves. On 18, it’s just a bonus what happens on 18 after 17. You have such a good day and to kind of end it like that, it is a little disappointing, but for 18 to go in just kind of makes dinner taste a little better.”
Kim is one shot behind Scheffler, who slipped from atop the leaderboard after a pedestrian 3 under performance.
Keegan Bradley (68) remains alone in fourth place at 13-under 203, while Akshay Bhatia (71) fell from second place into a tie for fifth with Sahith Theegala (66) at 12 under. First-round leader Cameron Young (72) is tied for 12th with Nick Dunlap (70) at 5 under.
