Birdie Birdie Birdie Na Sang-wook’s Day

“Birdie, birdie, birdie.”

Na Sang-wook (21, Kolon Elord), whom the Washing Post praised as “a second Tiger Woods,” has played his best golf game since he entered the PGA Tour this year.

June 27 was the third round of the Booz Allen Classic (total purse: $4.5 million) held in the Potomac TPC at Avenel (par 71), Maryland, in the U.S.. Na had seven bogey-free birdies, scoring the “daily best” of 7-under-par 64 and leaping from 35th place to 5th with an overall score of 10-under-par 203.

Na’s play was fantastic during this day. His driver shots averaged 281 yards with a 79 percent fairway hitting percentage. His green hitting percentage was a mere 67 percent, but his putting was so amazing that he finished the whole round with only 23 putts.

In the second hole, Na succeeded in long putting for a 9m birdie, continued with a 4.5m birdie putt on the 5th hole, and back to back birdies on the 9th, 10th and 13th, 14th holes, finally finishing the round with a 1.3m birdie on the 18th.

“I had played on the course before, so it was rather easy to find a strategy and the ball did not go off the fairway so I could have played comfortably,” said Na, adding, “after an article on me went out in the Washington Post, the American gallery around me has increased and cheered for me every time I hit the ball.”

Na is eight strokes behind the 18-under 195 leader Adam Scott (Australia), making Na’s victory difficult, but he still can place higher than his season high 4th place at the Honda Classic.

Na and Adam Scott both learned from Butch Harmon, who also coached Tiger Woods. In the June 23 Washington Post article, Harmon praised Na as "improving at a pace equal to both Woods and Scott at the same age.”

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com