Kim Ju-hyung climbs into top 10 at Mexico Open despite earlier penalty

Kim Ju-hyung moved into the top 10 at the PGA Tour's Vidanta World Mexico Open (purse: $6 million) with a six-stroke improvement in the third round.

Playing Sunday (Korean Standard Time) at Vidanta Vallarta (par 71) in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico, Kim carded six birdies against no bogeys for a 6-under-par 65. The round lifted Kim to a 13-under-par total of 200, moving up 16 spots from a tie for 25th on Saturday to a tie for ninth. Kim trails solo leader Andrew Novak of the United States — who sits at 23-under 190 — by 10 strokes.

Kim had incurred a two-stroke penalty in Saturday's second round for accidentally hitting a fellow competitor's ball, but bounced back with a composed performance. Missing only two greens in regulation, Kim picked up two birdies on the front nine and added four more on the back to climb the leaderboard.

Novak followed Saturday's 10-under 61 with a 9-under 62 on Sunday, extending his lead over second-place Mathieu Pavon of France — at 17-under 196 — to six strokes.

Novak, who won the Zurich Classic alongside Ben Griffin last year, is chasing his first individual PGA Tour title and second career victory overall. Korean American Doug Kim sits alone in third at 16-under 197.