Michael Kim produced a couple of late clutch moments in the final round to scoop his first DP World Tour title at the FedEx Open de France.
The 32-year-old American began the final day at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche a shot off overnight leaders Min Woo Lee of Australia and American Brooks Koepka in a round which saw a number of twists and turns with the lead exchanged on a number of occasions throughout the day. Kim soon found himself at the summit with a birdie at the second and he picked up further shots at the seventh, ninth, and tenth.
He remained in contention with the likes of Lee, Koepka, and England’s Marcus Armitage during the early stages of the back nine with five consecutive pars. Kim looked to have produced a clutch finish with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th which saw him enter the last with a narrow one-shot lead over the rest of the pack. But the 18th saw his tee shot find the bunker to put his potential victory under serious threat. However, after successfully escaping the sand, Kim calmly putt in from 16 feet for par to card a 6-under 65 and set the target. But none of the chasers were able to beat or match the target to give Kim his first worldwide victory in over seven years and become the first American to win the tournament in 53 years.
“It feels amazing,” Kim said. “I haven’t won a tournament since 2018 at the John Deere Classic and I really wanted to put on a good showing here this week.
“And I’m just so happy and grateful that I was able to come out with the victory.
“I’ve had a really good year on the PGA TOUR this year. This feels like the perfect cherry on top and I hope to continue this throughout my career.”
Home favourite Ko, who found himself with the outright lead after he set the clubhouse target with a par-par finish, narrowly missed out on a maiden DP World Tour victory of his own finishing in a tie for second alongside Australia’s Elvis Smylie on 15 under. Koepka had to settle with a total of 14 under to finish in fourth while there was a four-way tie for fifth which featured Lee.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour, following the Ryder Cup, is the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship taking place between 2-5 October at Old Course St. Andrews in Scotland.