Defending champion Tom Kim charges into joint third round lead, Bhatia, Rai 42nd

 Tom Kim of South Korea  (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images).

Khel Today Bureau 

Las Vegas, Nevad: Defending champion Tom Kim of Korea fired a scintillating 9-under 62 to grab the joint third round lead with Adam Hadwin and Lanto Griffin at the Shriners Children’s Open on Saturday, with countryman K.H. Lee lying a stroke back.

The 21-year-old Kim burst to life at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas by sinking an eagle, nine birdies against two bogeys for 15-under to give himself a shot at earning a third PGA TOUR victory in what has been a meteoric career rise.

Akshay Bhatia (68) and Aaron Rai (69), both of whom have Indian connections were  tied 42^nd.

K H Lee, who is also a two-time winner, carded a 66 to sit one back in the third event of FedExCup Fall while Chinese rookie Yuxin Lin returned a 69 to sit on 10-under heading into the final round.

After missing his defence at the Wyndham Championship due to injury, Kim was excited to have the chance to shoot for a repeat victory.

He started the day six off the pace but roared to an outward 30, highlighted by an eagle on Hole No. 9 when he rifled a 4 iron approach from 244 yards to 15 inches of the flag. He then made five more birdies coming home.

Lee hit three birdies and an eagle on the 16th hole to charge into contention. He sent a 5-iron from 210 yards to nine inches of the hole for a tap in eagle.

With Sungjae Im having won the tournament in 2021 as well, Lee is eager to keep the title in the hands of Korean golfers although he realises his Presidents Cup International Team partner, Tom Kim, is in good form.