Tom Kim earned the most significant triumph of his career, picking up his first title in 1,001 days thanks to a two-shot victory at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The 24-year-old South Korean, who’s previous victory came at the 2023 Shriner’s Children’s Open, entered the final round at the Renaissance Club a shot adrift of overnight co-leaders Robert MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Min Woo Lee. But Kim took the initiative by sinking a trio of birdies on the front nine to muscle his way into contention. Another birdie at the 10th saw he hold a tighter grip on the tournament as Scotland’s MacIntyre fell back with a run of four bogeys in seven holes. However, Australia’s Lee remained in touching distance with birdies at the 12th and 14th to briefly move within one of Kim. But a crucial birdie at the 16th saw Kim approach the final two holes with a two-shot advantage as he looked to close out the victory. Consecutive pars at the 17th and 18th saw Kim card a bogey-free final-round 64 to end on 17 under and claim his fourth career PGA TOUR title as well as a maiden DP World Tour victory in the co-sanctioned event.
The win means Kim climbs to 32nd in the FedExCup standings and he has also sealed himself a place at The Masters in 2027
“I can’t really wrap my mind over it,” Kim said following his triumph. “It’s really special and I’m just at a loss for words.
“Obviously I’ve had a tough couple years. I got to taste a lot of that humble pie and I got to really learn about myself and I’m still trying to grow, still trying to learn.
“I’m definitely appreciating this more now than I did a couple years ago, which is really cool. I thought about my family, all the people around my corner that have suffered with me and also celebrated with me and kind of remembering all those people really brought tears to my eyes.”
Kim went on to add that the first person to congratulate him over his return to the winner’s circle was Tiger Woods.
“Obviously on TGL being on Tiger’s team, I’ve been able to ask him questions on certain things,” Kim said. “He’s been really helpful a lot of the time. This was my first win in three years, and the first person that texted me was Tiger Woods. Shows you the person he is and how much he cares.”
Lee’s final-round 67 was enough for him to secure a runner-up finish on 15 under while two shots further back was a four-way tie for third including MacIntyre, Fitzpatrick, Japan’s Keita Nakajima, and America’s Johnny Keeper.
Keeper was one of the three golfers who took the remaining Open Championship spots that were available to the highest finishers not already exempt into the field with the other two spots claimed by fellow American Michael Thorbjornsen and France’s Victor Perez.
The event also witnessed world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler not make the cut of a PGA TOUR event for the first time in 78 events, ending a remarkable streak which lasted 1,428 days. The four-time major champion failed to make the weekend for the first time since the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship.
“It felt like nothing was going right,” Scheffler said. “I didn’t really feel like I played that bad. This golf course can be just tough at times. There’s some humps and mounds out there.
“I don’t think I finished outside of the top 20 or something like that many times this year. So I’m definitely proud of the consistency and wish I had a couple of days over the weekend to make up some ground.”
What is the next event?
The next events on both the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour schedule are The Open Championship (Royal Birkdale Golf Club, England) and the Corales Puntacana Championship (Puntacana Resort & Club, Dominican Republic), both taking place between 16-19 July.