Chris Kirk Trails as Michael Kim Rises With 30 on Front Nine
chris kirk was part of a packed PGA Championship leaderboard Saturday as Michael Kim shot a 5-under 30 on the front nine and surged into the top 10 at Aronimink Golf Club. Kim’s fast start came after he spent Friday outside the cutline, then chipped in for eagle on his final shot to keep his weekend alive.
He reached ninth through the first nine holes, a sharp climb from 93rd after one round and 53rd after the second. Six birdies on the front nine put him in position before the back nine even started.
Aronimink Golf Club pace
Kim opened with three straight birdies before a bogey on the fourth hole slowed him briefly. He nearly holed out from the rough on the seventh, then finished with his sixth birdie in the first seven holes. That run carried him from simply surviving into the final rounds to pushing into the mix at a major where every shot was moving the board.
The third round came at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where the field had already been compressed into a narrow race. Fifteen players were separated by two shots entering the weekend, the biggest logjam going into a major weekend since 2002.
Michael Kim’s weekend shift
The broader picture for Kim is the jump itself. He was outside the cutline in Round 2 until that eagle at the end of the round changed the rest of his tournament, and Saturday’s front-nine burst turned a survival act into a climb up the leaderboard.
That matters in a championship where the margin from first to worst among the 82 players who made the cut was only eight shots. The PGA Championship also raised its total prize fund to $20.5 million in 2026, up $1.5 million from the previous year, so every place gained on the board carried more weight in a field this tight.
Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy
Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy were set to tee off in the afternoon after Kim’s early round, with the leaderboard still crowded around the top. Kim’s job now is simple: keep the scorecard quiet enough to stay in the top tier he reached on Saturday morning.
