He won the 2013 event for his first tour title. Kim matched Petterson by sinking an uphill 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
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Instead, Kim was forced to settle for a 60 after making his next putt.
Spaun earned $99,000 to jump from fifth to third on the money list with $335,432 with only the regular-season finale left next week at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon. “Obviously play with a little bit more freedom and go out there and hopefully keep playing the way I played this week”.
Kim, who was the second-youngest victor on the Web.com Tour in 2015, has made 19 cuts in 29 starts this season but has yet to win. With three holes to play, Kim needed to play them in 2 under to crack 60.
England’s Luke Donald led the charge of contenders at 16 under.
Beyond Donald, who briefly pulled to within three strokes of Kim with a birdie on the 15th, Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker shared third place on 15-under.
“It’s hard to control”.
Still holding a comfortable lead, Kim retained his composure as he dropped in his par putts on the 11th and 12th hole. I’m experienced before like Alabama in Barbasol, that’s good experience.
“Not so much celebrate today”, Kim said.
U.S. Amateur: Australia’s Curtis Luck birdied the third playoff hole to beat MI sophomore Nick Carlson in the U.S. Amateur semifinals.
Inbee Park won a gold medal for South Korea on Saturday after she lapped the field in Rio, and Kim made sure the country didn’t suffer a golf hangover by closing out the tournament despite a talented group chasing him.
Carlson will face 20-year-old Australian Curtis Luck, a 2-up victor over Pepperdine sophomore Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, California.
“I missed it”, he said, “and got out of my routine a hair”.
Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed played relatively well this week with their 10-under tournament score but they were still well off the leading pace.
Ranked 398th, the Arizona resident finished at 15-under 273 at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague.
EUROPEAN PGA: In Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic, Jeff Winther had an eagle on his way to a 6-under 66 and a share of the second round lead with defending champion Thomas Pieters of Belgium at the Czech Masters. Glover, a former Clemson star and victor of the 2009 U.S. Open, also had a chance to shoot 59, but he three-putted the 18th green from about 25 feet as he settled for a 9-under 61.
Sam Ryder shot an 8-under 63 on Saturday at the News Sentinel Open at Knoxville, Tenn., giving him a one-stroke lead over second-round leader J.J. Spaun.
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Ryder closed with a 68.
