3M Open: Michael Kim feels ‘pretty cool’ after a historic round of 59

3M Open, second round leaderboard

-14 M Kim (US); -11 B Kohles (US), E Grillo (Arg), C Phillips (US); -10 J Koivun (US), T Merritt (US)

Selected others: -7 S Scheffler (US); -6 S Power (Ire); -4 J Parry (Eng); -3 J Smith (Eng)

Michael Kim is thrilled to be “part of the history books” after a excellent 12-under-par round (*59*) 59 on the 3M Open in Minnesota.

The American drained a 24-foot birdie putt on the ultimate gap to put up simply the sixteenth sub-60 round ever on the US PGA Tour.

Kim birdied the final 4 holes at TPC Twin Cities course in Blaine, lifting each arms in triumph when the putt on 18 rolled in earlier than unleashing a mighty fist-pump.

The 33-year-old had 12 birdies with out a bogey to complete his second round within the lead, three pictures in entrance (*59*) compatriot Ben Kohles.

Seoul-born Kim is the fifteenth golfer to succeed in the magic quantity (*59*) 59 on the US tour.

Jim Furyk shot a tour-record 58 on the 2016 Travelers Championship, having beforehand made 59 on the 2013 BMW Championship.

“I kind of remember thinking on 18 that you have to go for it, 60 or 61 doesn’t really make too much of a difference,” stated Kim, whose earlier finest round was a 62.

“To shoot 59 was pretty cool and feels like I’m part of the history books.”

Kim’s sensational day included 5 birdies in a row from the third via the seventh holes, a run launched with an 11-foot birdie putt on the third.

He made a 12-footer on the par-three fourth, landed his strategy inside 5 ft and made that on the fifth, sank a 10-foot birdie on the sixth and a two-footer at seven.

Kim added back-to-back birdies on the ninth and tenth and yet another at 12 earlier than launching his closing burst with a birdie from simply inside 12 ft on the fifteenth.

He saved it going with a 13-foot birdie at 16 and drilled a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-three seventeenth.

“I made a really nice birdie putt on 16. It had a lot of break to it and it went in dead centre,” Kim stated.

“There’s a lot of water on 17 and 18 and I just kind of told myself like ‘hey, this is the way – this is the moment to get into the history books and let’s go for it, let’s not try to luck our way into it, let’s try to step up and hit some really good shots’.”