Kang on brink of marquee status
South Korean shows flashes of brilliance in overtaking field
Three South Korean men are ranked among the top 100 players in the world.
Sung Kang isn’t one of them, but that might change.
So might Kang’s status as a non-Masters participant and his being only the secondmost famous Sung Kang on the planet. For the moment, the U.S.-born actor Sung Kang, known for the character he plays in “The Fast and the Furious” movies, has as big a lead over the Shell Houston Open’s 36-hole leader in terms of “Q” factor as the latter has on the field at the Golf Club of Houston.
Marquee talents like Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott, ranked fifth,
sixth and seventh in the world, respectively, are free to fly to Augusta. They missed the SHO cut, which was even-par 144. Rickie Fowler also finished the afternoon like Georgia was on his mind instead of Humble, giving four strokes back with a bogey on 12, followed by an even larger double-bogey/bogey hiccup two holes before he escaped.
But Kang the golfer, coming off a sizzling 63 on Friday, wakes up Saturday at 16 under, having posted the lowest midpoint score — 128 — in 70 Houston Opens, dating to 1946. That’s six swings fewer than anybody has taken these last two days and seven fewer than Fowler, who staggered home with a 71.
“I was in a good spot,” Fowler (135) said of being 12 under following a birdie on the par-5 13th. “Five or 6 under today would have been nice and I was kind of on pace for that. I had two par-5s in front of me and I made birdie on the first one. But I took a double on the
second one … not the way I wanted to finish. That’s just how it is. That’s golf. I made some good swings out there early. Everything’s been pretty solid (except) for a couple swings.”
Unlike his top-10 peers who departed, Fowler gets to do his cleaning up in a competitive environment this weekend. He suggested he’ll profit from same in Augusta, where the Masters starts Thursday, although Sunday’s weather forecast concerns him. Heavy rain is expected and could force a Monday finish.
“Hopefully we’ll enjoy some good weather tomorrow,” he said, “then pray for a miracle Sunday.”
Kang must be wondering if his miracle has happened. Touring the front nine, which was his back nine, in 6 under par with an eagle for icing on the eighth hole, he also became the sixth player to shoot 63 on the tournament course, where the SHO has been played since 2007. Only Fred Funk’s 62 on The Woodlands Tournament Player Course beats that over the seven decades.
The 29-year-old Dallas resident — he hails from the island of Jeju, south of the Korean peninsula — has done it with a new putter, too, one he had never used until a practice round Tuesday. Since? Near perfection. Just one off-target short tap on the last hole Thursday has kept him from being bogey-free.
“I was kind of not feeling very good about changing,” Kang said, “but my friend, my coach, they’re pushing me, ‘Use this putter. Use this one.’ The ball was rolling pretty good, so I became more confident. I putted pretty good yesterday and I putted really good today. The putter just kept making putts. (It) happened and happened and happened. It was a fun day. I want to play about 10 more holes now because I’m ready to go.”
Kang has six-shot lead
Kang, 202 in the world rankings, holds a six-shot lead over Russell Henley and Hudson Stafford, who are 10 under following a matching set of back-toback 67s. Trailing Fowler at 8 under are Zac Blair and Aaron Baddeley. They shot 67 and 68, respectively. Baddeley was the last to finish among that group. Like Fowler, he had to manage far breezier conditions, but he delivered a second bogey-free round.
“Just a solid day,” Baddeley said. “Hit a lot of greens and fairways. The greens are super quick and I really like that. It plays to my strength. The wind got up pretty good. I really needed to just be patient and try not to force the issue.”
Kang had volunteered the information about his equipment change, saying he had switched to a TaylorMade model from a trusty Titleist he had used for 10 years at the behest of a buddy who works for TaylorMade. But reporters being reporters, that led to a barrage of questions about the magic wand, making him sound like he wished he’d left that genie in the bottle. The inquiries, he said laughing, were making him “crazy. I don’t want my friend to feel so good about it. I didn’t do anything different. Probably the greens are just perfect here. I would have still putt like this with my old one.”
Consistency a problem
Perhaps. Although Kang’s best finishes on the PGA Tour are two thirds, he’s no stranger to eye-popping low rounds. His 60 in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am in 2016, when actor Ray Romano was his partner, is that famed course’s record low round. And nobody has made it around Bethpage Black in fewer swings than the 64 Kang needed on the final day of the Barclays tournament last year.
But consistency, the stringing together of four stellar rounds to deliver a title, has been an ongoing issue for him since he first earned a PGA Tour card in 2009.
For example, his last 18 holes in Houston before he fashioned a 65 on Thursday was a stumbling, bumbling Sunday 78 a year ago.
So there’s work to be done, and pressure with which to dealt, before he can make Masters plans. He insisted he’s not thinking about Augusta.
“It’s not in my head,” Kang said. “I’ll go play (this weekend). Whatever happens, happens.”
Told that two of the last three SHO champions, Matt Jones in 2014 and Jim Herman in 2016, received their first invitations to Augusta by winning Houston, he said: “Me, I don’t want to know. If I go, good. I don’t really care.”
Right.