Kim made good on a Saturday 62 with a closing 66, holding off Adam Hadwin by one shot en route to defending his title at the Shriners Children’s Open.

“It’s very sweet,” Kim said on Sunday evening. “I feel like the first two wins came at me really quick. It took a lot longer than my first two wins to get my third one. But it’s very sweet. This is really for the team. I’ve worked really hard personally, but without their help, I would not even be close to getting my third win.”

Kim came to prominence last summer when he shot a final-round 61—and overcame a quadruple-bogey 8 on his first hole—to capture the Wyndham Championship at age 20 by five shots. The South Korean went from a promising player to a potential star, however, with his performance at the Presidents Cup. His recklessly entertaining play was matched by an energy that can best be described as a golden retriever on Red Bull. For arguably the first time in its existence, the Presidents Cup provided a moment (or perhaps it was the player that gave the event a moment). Whatever the case, while the list of Hall-of-Fame international players is long, the list of those who have resonated with an American audience is short … if even a list at all. Kim’s display at Quail Hollow showed he had the game and personality to assume that mantle, with a win just weeks later at the 2022 Shriners.

And since his Sin City win, Kim has played well. Entering the week he had 10 finishes of T-11 or better over the past year, a stretch highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Open Championship. Conversely, the story of the past season in golf could be told without Kim. That’s not a shot at him or what he’s done or where he could go; the man has only been legally able to drink in this country for three months, after all. But given his fast ascent, coupled with golf’s inclination to facilitate the occasional hot stretch before turning its back on the said recipient, Kim had slightly faded into the background as the sport winds down and heads into 2024. Even as this tournament’s defending champ, playing despite already locking up his top-50 status for next year, Kim’s participation this week felt like a miscellaneous note to the headline of Lexi Thompson’s sponsor’s exemption and ensuing play. That may seem unfair to Kim and perhaps it was, yet with expectations come impossibly high standards and responsibility. That is the price of stardom.

“I think those two wins, I wasn’t really … I was playing my game,” Kim said. “I wasn’t thinking about, OK, I need to win this event, I need to do this. No, I played and it happened. It happened very naturally. It happened very quickly. I think by the end of last year, two wins on the PGA Tour all of a sudden, ranked 13th in the world. Suddenly you feel like you’re right there and you need to do something extra or something. But it really wasn’t. I felt like I almost added a lot of pressure towards myself to perform really well this year. But really it’s been a very big learning curve for me, and it’s very humbling to be able to experience what I’ve experienced this year.”

Then the weekend came, and Kim turned in a nine-under 62 during the third round at TPC Summerlin, giving him a share of the lead with Hadwin and Lanto Griffin. But with 14 players within three of the lead, Sunday promised a horse race. Out of the gate, Kim tried his best to end it early with three birdies on his first four holes, but back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth kept the rest of the pack close. An early 62 from Eric Cole put the former journeyman at 18 under, a number that was matched by a handful of others that seemed to be the number to beat. Kim crossed that threshold at the 13th and appeared to secure the tournament at the drivable par-4 15th. Kim sprayed his drive to the right and his second just cleared a greenside bunker, but he cleaned up the remaining 12 feet for birdie just seconds after Hadwin’s eagle try lipped out. Though maintaining a one-shot lead over Hadwin did not seem imperative at the moment it made what happened next all the more decisive.

At the par-5 16th, Kim hit his approach first and landed his second safely on the green. Hadwin could not say the same. The Canadian could not hold his follow-through, his arms falling to his side and his head pointed towards the ground, unable to watch his ball and hopes disappear into a pond.

“It was like 193 front, 206 pin. It really honestly was just a perfect little cut 6 [iron],” Hadwin said. “The ball still covers the front edge as long as it’s up the centre of the green, and I completely whiffed it, up and out of it, and unfortunately one of my worst swings of the day at the least opportune time.”

Hadwin managed to hit his next shot close but could not convert the save; on a hole where he desperately needed a 4 or a 3 he walked away with 6. A score that proved an especially tough swallow after Kim three-putted for par. Kim played the 17th and 18th without incident, and Hadwin’s birdie at the 18th came after the issue was no longer in doubt. Kim was a winner once more.

“It was pretty intense really. It was just me and Adam, and I feel like it was almost match play once we got past 14,” Kim said. “It was just him and me. It was whether I wanted it or he wants it, and we both just see what happens. It was probably the most emotional final round I’ve experienced win-wise the last year and a half.”

With his win, Kim accomplished a rare feat. Since the new FedEx Cup Fall is an extension of the 2022-’23 season, Kim became the first player since Byron Nelson in 1944 to win the same event in the same campaign. He also became the youngest player in more than 110 years to defend a PGA Tour-recognised title. “Yeah, for sure,” Kim said when asked if he’s coming back next fall. “Three-peat sounds nice.”

Of course, the week itself was a pretty rare thing, too: Leaving Las Vegas a winner. And perhaps a week that moves Kim back to the forefront of the game as the calendar turns, particularly into a Presidents Cup season. That’s because Tom Kim is proving the game he plays is not a game of chance, but a game of skill. There are no sure things in golf, but the prospects of who is becoming and where he can go? Those are far from unfounded hopes.

Main image: Orlando Ramirez

The post Tom Kim wins title defence at Shriners, and does something that hasn’t been done in 110 years appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Tom Kim v trousers is a rivalry for the ages. It’s the Liverpool v Man United of sartorial showdowns. The Red Sox-Yankees of fashion fails. Kim burst on to the scene (literally) at last year’s Presidents Cup when he split his trousers not once but twice at Quail Hollow. Then at the PGA Championship, Kim did his best Swamp Thing impression when he slipped in a creek attempting a treacherous recovery shot, getting caked in mud from the Nike swoosh down.

Since then we’ve been watching and waiting for Kim’s next run-in with a pair of slacks, which finally arrived at the FedEx St Jude Championship on Thursday when Kim made his playoff debut dressed like he was headed to a regatta …

Tom Kim. Gregory Shamus

As is seemingly the case with all things Tom Kim, the internet was simultaneously mystified and magnetized by the South Korean’s bold new look.

What a look from Tom Kim pic.twitter.com/dZQTxfRyCy

— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) August 10, 2023

Tom Kim going with an interesting look with the pants today pic.twitter.com/6B0V3m3Mtx

— Eli Savoie (@Eli560) August 10, 2023

Mr Tom Kim… what’re we doing with the pants there my guy? @NoLayingUp pic.twitter.com/Qhwx2kObEB

— Steve Valerio (@steve_valerio) August 10, 2023

What in all things holy is Tom Kim wearing today? Are they rolled up? Does this have something to do with his ankle? I'm beyond confused

— Rich Cuthbertson (@rcubDFS) August 10, 2023

It’s a valid question, but we honestly don’t know. Maybe the swelling from Kim’s twisted ankle still hasn’t gone down enough to squeeze into those finely tailored pantaloons. Maybe men’s capris are making a comeback for fall/winter 2023. Maybe he’s just showing his dreaded khaki adversaries who’s boss once and for all. We’ll have to wait and see …

The post The internet couldn’t get enough of Tom Kim’s trousers at the FedEx St Jude Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Last August Kim fired a final-round 61 at Sedgefield Country Club to win the 2022 Wyndham Championship, becoming the second-youngest player since the Second World War to win on tour. The fledgling star was set to return to Greensboro for next week’s regular-season finale, but Kim is no longer in the field after suffering a sprained ankle at the Open Championship.

“I am very gutted to not be able to defend my first PGA Tour win,” Kim said. “I am still having a hard time with my ankle, so I am getting the treatment I need to heal completely.”

Kim added that he flew home to South Korea to receive treatment for his ankle following the Open Championship.

Kim suffered a grade-1 ankle sprain at Hoylake after Round 1 of the Open Championship. Despite the injury Kim returned to Royal Liverpool on Friday, and responded with rounds of 68, 68 and 67 to finish T-2 at the Open.

“Obviously coming down the stretch of a major when you’re playing well the adrenaline kind of hits and makes sure you’re kind of in it,” Kim said of playing through the injury on Sunday. “It was kind of nice to almost forget about it a little bit, because when you’re in the moment you don’t really think about it. I think today was probably the best it’s been out of the three days, so kind of relieved.”

With two weeks to go before the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Kim is 14th in the FEC standings and 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The post Tom Kim withdraws from PGA Tour title defence due to injury appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It doesn’t rank up there with Tiger Woods winning the US Open on a broken leg, but what Tom Kim endured last week on his way to a personal-best finish in a major was a evidence of grit and the power of painkillers and adrenaline.

After a freak accident at his rental home, where Kim on Thursday evening stepped on to a muddy spot and twisted his ankle into a Grade 1 sprain, he wore a removable cast away from the course and arrived at Royal Liverpool on crutches.

The 20-year-old said he considered withdrawing before the second and third rounds, but Kim toughed it out. After an opening 74 in good health, he shot back-to-back 68s, and then closed in the terrible weather, with treacherous slippery grounds, on Sunday with a 67 to finish in the runner-up group of four at seven-under that was six shots behind champion Brian Harman.

“It actually lasted better today,” Kim said. “I took off my cast and kind of saw and it actually got a lot better, which was really nice to see. My team and my medical team have done a great job of protecting it and making sure it’s not moving as much as possible.

“Obviously, coming down the stretch of a major when you’re playing well, the adrenaline kind of hits and makes sure you’re kind of in it. It’s kind of nice to almost forget about it a little bit, because when you’re in the moment you don’t really think about it. I think today was probably the best it’s been out of the three days, so kind of relieved.”

That doesn’t mean Kim wasn’t thinking about all the mud he had to traverse in a day of constant rain.

“You could slip really easily. The last thing I need right now is another twist or another slip.”

The performance extends a run of recent strong results of the second-year tour player. Kim tied for eight in the US Open last month and was T-6 in the Scottish Open. He appears to be back on track after hitting a spring and summer lull following a strong season opening in which he won in Las Vegas in October and had two other top-10s before the calendar turned to February.

“It’s very, very satisfying,” Kim said of the result at Hoylake. “It’s been tough at times this year, but I can’t say it’s really tough, because for me, I feel like our team has a lot of expectations and we’re trying to play the best that I can.

“Obviously having the season last year, your expectations go more up and you kind of feel like you’re supposed to play like that all the time. Seeing golf courses that I haven’t been to, hitting a huge learning curve, it’s been kind of frustrating a little bit.

“But it’s been a time where I put things a lot in perspective and try to keep myself — this is just a learning curve, this is my first full year out. These guys have been out here for five- to 10-plus years.

“I really have to kind of put it into perspective and keep working hard to keep playing better. I put a lot of work in this year trying to get back to that feeling of kind of contending in big events and it’s kind of nice to see the fruits coming to life.”

The post The Open Championship 2023: Dealing with crutches and a cast, Tom Kim notches his best finish in a major appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As the afternoon wave chased the sun on Thursday evening at Oak Hill — the by-product of a nearly two-hour frost delay to the PGA Championship — the ESPN broadcast was about to segue to commercial break until cameras caught an unusual sight: Kim, appearing to emerge from a creek. As the broadcast stayed with the fledging superstar, it was revealed Kim had actually fallen into mud, his clothes beautifully caked in sludge:

OH MY. OH NO.

Tom Kim falls in the mud at the #PGAChampionship ?? pic.twitter.com/ICz4z9YuV0

— Andy Mac (@AndyMacSports) May 19, 2023

Kim proceeded to jump back into the creek, desperately trying to wash himself off in the middle of his round. He then took his shirt off and changed into a pullover while throwing on a rain suit, smiling at the ridiculous situation he found himself in.

As you can imagine, Twitter — funny crowd, that Twitter — was delighted by what they saw:

Tom Kim trying to finish his round pic.twitter.com/wdBU7sJ0f7

— Josh Culp (@futureoffantasy) May 18, 2023

The moment when Tom Kim almost completely disappears from view and you realize he's having a mid-round bath in the creek pic.twitter.com/9by9jRaGHy

— Shane Ryan (Trustworthy) (@ShaneRyanHere) May 18, 2023

really enjoyed the moment Joe Skovron realized there was a camera on them pic.twitter.com/GOJw0VXvej

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) May 18, 2023

Allen's Creek is now officially Tom's Creek pic.twitter.com/5wA72be8t5

— Stephen Hennessey (@S_HennesseyGD) May 18, 2023

Tom Kim at Oak Hill pic.twitter.com/gh5glimNa1

— Steve Carlin (@redhawkseve) May 18, 2023

After he completed his round (he ended up bogeying that sixth hole, but parred his way in after the mud bath), he checked his phone before being interviewed by ESPN’s Michael Eaves.

Tom Kim, after being told the video of him getting muddy is all over the place.

“Everyone knows? Who got it?”

You were on ESPN.

“Oh my God…” pic.twitter.com/DHdG9HRDrz

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) May 19, 2023

Kim described to Eaves that he was told his ball might’ve been playable in the creek, so he tried to head in and check out his lie before releasing “it was pretty sketch” in there. Cameras didn’t unfortunately catch him sinking all the way up to his waist in the mud, but we saw the aftermath … with Kim literally caked in mud from the bottom down. “I hope everyone at home understands, it’s a major championship and I’m trying to fight for every shot I can,” he said. Kim then admitted, yes, he came back around to the other side of the creek and dipped himself back in the water to wash himself off. He was already soaked, so why not go back in, he laughed. “It was a great experience.”

We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again: Tom Kim is a treasure. Also, find a way to get him dual citizenship, preferably in a European country, so we can get that man into the Ryder Cup.

The post WATCH: Tom Kim falls into creek at PGA Championship, gets caked in mud, remains a delight appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Pimento, egg salad, peach ice cream sandwich. A trip through Masters concessions with Tournament rookie Tom Kim. #themasters pic.twitter.com/iroNrmwMY0

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 5, 2023

That’s quite the spread. For those of you keeping score at home, Kim walked away with the recently revived Georgia peach ice cream sandwich (don’t call it a comeback!), a white chocolate Georgia pecan cookie, the egg salad and, of course, the granddaddy of them all, the pimento cheese sando, all for just over $12. He did make one rookie mistake though: He tried to pay cash (the Masters is a cashless event) and had to be bailed out by a friendly security guard.

But hey, your first Masters is a learning experience. You gotta learn the ropes before you’re comfortable inside them. This is all part of the process. Just go easy on those sweets, TK.

The post Masters 2023: Watch Tom Kim devour a pile of Augusta National concessions, make classic rookie mistake appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Decked out in his new Swoosh gear for the first PGA Tour event of the new year, Kim was asked about that first brush with greatness at his pre-tournament press conference ahead of this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. And his answer didn’t disappoint.

“Yeah, so I met Tiger for the first time — well, I mean, I seen him in person, I think I was like five or six,” Kim said. “It was in Australia. He came for one of the tournaments, and he was walking to the bathroom, and I was like, I had my TW cap on and it was so big because I had a small head at that time and it didn’t fit. But he was walking literally three feet in front of me and I shouted: ‘Go, Tiger’ and he tipped the cap and went in the bathroom, and literally thousands of people started running to the bathroom waiting for him to come out. But that was my first interaction with him.”

On second thought, getting a tip of the cap from Tiger might be better than actually meeting Tiger. You know, something like this:

Tiger Woods. AFP

Only we know it wasn’t that exact tip of the cap because that tip of the cap came at the 2002 US Open — five days before Tom Kim was even born. Yep, that’s how young the dude is. In fact, later in his press conference he talked about having a DVD set of some of Tiger’s biggest wins. Incredible.

Anyway, good job to the golf writer who asked Tom the appropriate follow-up question if he was one of those who waited for Tiger to use the porta-potty?

“I did not,” Kim replied. “I did not. I wanted to give him his privacy.”

Good for him. What a precocious young lad.

The post Tom Kim tells hilarious childhood story of his first meeting with Tiger Woods appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy. DP World Tour

The outspoken point man in defending the PGA Tour/DP World Tour against the LIV circuit, McIlroy would have been forgiven for a letdown after winning his third FedEx Cup title in August with his come-from-behind victory over then-No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at East Lake. Instead, the Northern Irishman went about overtaking Scheffler again, this time in the Official World Golf Ranking, by successfully defending his title in the CJ Cup in late October. It marked the ninth time McIlroy claimed OWGR No. 1. only Tiger Woods and Greg Norman (11 apiece) have done it more often. As if that was not enough, when McIlroy finished fourth at the DP World Tour Championship, he locked up the season-long DP World Tour title for the fourth time while joining Henrik Stenson in winning the season title on both major tours. Next mountain to climb? Augusta.

Tom Kim

Tom Kim. Warren Little

Nobody had more fun at the Presidents Cup than Tom Kim, whose energy helped the underdog International team put a scare into the American side at Quail Hollow.
The 20-year-old South Korean already was a sensation when he won the Wyndham Championship in August — after starting the tournament with a quadruple-bogey — to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs and subsequently become a wildcard pick by Presidents Cup captain Trevor Immelman. Kim rose up to become the emotional leader for the underdog International team with a series of big shots and demonstrative reactions during their Saturday surge at Quail Hollow that made the heavily favoured Americans work for their 12th win in 14 Presidents Cup matches. Two weeks after that, he outduelled World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas. Kim didn’t make a bogey all week in becoming the second-youngest two-time winner in PGA Tour history.

RBC Heritage

The tournament on Hilton Head Island that saw Arnold Palmer win the inaugural edition in 1969 is likely to welcome its best ever field in 2023 now that RBC has ponied up for elevated status by offering a $20 million purse. The event, parked right behind the Masters, traditionally has attracted a decent field, given its proximity to Augusta, Georgia, but nothing like it did decades ago when the list of winners, in order, starting in 1981 was Bill Rogers, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Fuzzy Zoeller, Davis Love III, Greg Norman and Payne Stewart. Until Jordan Spieth’s victory last year, a past Masters champion hadn’t won at Harbour Town Golf Links since Zoeller in 1986. The year before, Bernhard Langer won it the week after taking the first of his two green jackets.

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson. LIV Golf

Johnson easily was the best player that LIV Golf snagged before luring Open champion Cam Smith, who was No. 2 in the world at the time he signed on in September, and DJ proved that by winning LIV’s season-long points title in October after just six events. The payoff was an additional $18 million for the two-time major champion. Granted, Johnson got a head start on his most serious competition when joined LIV at its debut event in London in exchange for a reported $125 million or so up front. His total performance earnings on the year, which included success for his 4Aces team, exceeded $35 million. “It’s pretty good,” he said in his own understated manner. “You add up the numbers, and it was great. I played good [but] … I didn’t play my best, it could always be better, but that’s golf.” The only downside: DJ has tumbled to 38th in the World Ranking since LIV events aren’t offering points.

Seamus Power

The 35-year-old Irishman has been the definition of a journeyman on the PGA Tour since first earning a card in 2017 but needing to earn it back three times in his first four seasons. A breakthrough win came in 2021, but this autumn has seen his most consistent stretch of play. He played in six of the nine fall events, missing just one cut. In his final three starts he went Win (Bermuda), T-3 (Mayakoba) and T-5 (RSM) to end the autumn season atop the FedEx Cup points list, all but assuring him a shot a getting into the FedEx Cup playoffs and the opportunity to qualify for the tour’s elevated events in 2023. The $1.8 million he banked already this season is more than he’s earned in any season except the 2021-22.

David Lingmerth

After regaining his PGA Tour card by winning the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Lingmerth started the 2022-23 season with three straight missed cuts. But the resilient Swede, who has battled a series of injuries in recent years, posted three finishes of 11th or better in his last four starts, including T-10 Sunday at the RSM Classic. Lingmerth, 35, already has surpassed his combined earnings of $418,069 on the KFT and PGA Tour last season by pocketing $571,250. Interestingly, he’s done it ranking no better than 147th in any primary strokes-gained category. But he’ll begin 2023 38th on the FedEx Cup points list, so he’s made significant inroads to keeping his card.

Max Homa

Max Homa. Jared Tilton

Successful defence of his title at the Fortinet Championship — albeit with an assist from Danny Willett — was only part of Homa’s enjoyable autumn, capped in October by becoming a father. The following week, he made his Presidents Cup debut at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, site of his first career PGA Tour title. Impressively, he went 4-0-0, capped by rallying from 3-down to beat the aforementioned Tom Kim in singles. He also delivered one of the more memorable quotes of the week after he sank the winning putt in Friday’s final four-ball match with partner Billy Horschel, saying: “I was telling my wife, when we talk about things money can’t buy, money cannot buy that feeling. And that was something that I will remember forever, and I will tell anybody who ever wants to hear about it how that felt.” Anyone who follows golf knew what he was getting at.

PGA Tour Rookies

Taylor Montgomery had three top-10 finishes, tied for most on the tour this fall, while Ben Griffin provided the best feel-good story by nearly winning the Butterfield Bermuda Championship some 18 months after he had left the game and was working as a loan officer for a mortgage company. But regardless of performance, every rookie had to feel like a winner. Each received a $500,000 stipend at the start of the season that is theirs regardless of performance, a benefit introduced for the first time. That should make the holidays a little brighter until they can get back on the course in January.

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The post Legends of the fall: Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Tom Kim and the rest of the big winners of the men’s autumn season appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Indeed, McIlroy was driving it as good as he ever has. The four-time major winner hit 11 of 14 fairways with an average driving distance of 329 yards. Three times McIlroy launched it more than 350 yards.

“It’s something you can’t copy,” said Kim, who has won two PGA Tour events in his last five starts as well as made a splash for the International team at the Presidents Cup. “It was really hard to play my own game sometimes. Seeing the lines he took; [on one hole it was] like 380 to run out [of fairway] and he was [telling the ball to] sit. I was like, ‘Really? Sit?’ It was 380, but he almost made it. Things like that.”

Not even McIlroy appreciated how well he was hitting it off the tee. On the shorter par-4 15th, McIlroy blasted a 354-yard drive to the green and two-putted for an easy birdie.

“I hit while the guys in front were on the green because I didn’t think I was getting quite as far up as I did, so I had to give them a little wave and apologise,” McIlroy said.

By day’s end, the tournament’s defending champion had posted a five-under 66 that left him one shot behind Trey Mullinax and Gary Woodland.

While Kim might have watched in awe, he played pretty well himself, shooting a matching 66. This despite being 40 yards behind McIlroy on almost every hole.

During the round, the first in which they’ve been paired on the PGA Tour, the 20-year-old Kim took advantage of playing with the tour veteran, picking McIlroy’s brain on various topics. At one point Kim curiously asked him about speed training, knowing McIlroy had dabbled with it in the wake of Bryson DeChambeau’s 2020 US Open win at Winged Foot.

“I was like, ‘no no, no, no,’“ McIlroy said. “I think as he gets a little older and maybe a touch stronger, he’ll get that naturally. I was like, ‘Do not go down that path, you’re good the way you are.’”

Added Kim, who averaged 289 yards off the tee on Thursday: “The most important thing for me today was trying to play my own game and not look at his [driving] lines, but it was still so much fun.

To take Kim’s mind off driving distance, McIlroy chatted to him about fast food of all things.

“I know he likes fast food, so I asked him [if he prefers] Chick-fil-A or Popeye’s and he told me he hasn’t had Popeye’s yet,” McIlroy said with a laugh. “So I said, ‘no, you’ve got to have Popeye’s, I think it’s better than Chick-fil-A.’

“[We also talked about] the fact he got a place in Dallas and that he practises at Dallas National and Trinity Forest. Just a lot of golf chat.”

The easy conversation seemed to help McIlroy, making his first PGA Tour start since winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title in August, relax as well considering the stakes this week in South Carolina. With a victory, McIlroy could return to No. 1 in the World Ranking, a spot he hasn’t occupied since July 2020.

“Obviously, I have a chance to do it this week, but I’m proud of the fact that I’ve at least given myself a chance again,” Mcilroy said on Wednesday. “The last [time at No. 1] we were coming back from the lockdown from COVID in July 2020, and I feel like my game and my life has changed considerably since then, so it’s nice to have the opportunity again.”

Should McIlroy pass current No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, it would be the ninth different time the Northern Irishman has been atop the OWGR. But there is hardly a been there, done that feeling to the situation in McIlroy’s mind.

“This is a point of pride for all of us out here to be highly ranked, and to get to No. 1 in the world at whatever you do is an unbelievable accolade and something that you should be proud of.”

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The post Rory McIlroy plays good golf, and has good chat with Tom Kim, on Day 1 at the CJ Cup appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Tied after 54 holes in the Shriners Children’s Open, the two men had their own duel in the sun and found themselves still tied through 17 holes of the final round. Something was going to have to give. Or someone.
And that someone was not Tom Kim.

Solid to the very end, Kim capped a bogey-free week with a routine two-putt par on the 18th hole and etched his name in the game’s annals as the second-youngest two-time winner in PGA Tour history. He wound up beating Cantlay by three after the world’s fourth-ranked player inexplicably hooked, hacked and drowned his golf ball to close with a shocking triple bogey.

Only player to win twice on TOUR before his 21st birthday since…. pic.twitter.com/U2gjeJCoOQ

— Skratch (@Skratch) October 10, 2022

But make no mistake, Kim, 20, wasn’t handed his second victory in his last four tour starts. A final-round five-under 66 while entangled in a head-to-head duel with the 2021 PGA Tour Player of the Year was a performance worthy of the trophy and $1.44 million prize. He stared down an opponent who already owned a victory and two runner-up finishes in the event and who twice rallied from two-stroke deficits on the inward nine until hitting the Vegas jackpot on the home hole.

Kim completed 72 holes in 24-under 260, tying the tournament record after the layout was converted to par-71 in 2009, and became the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win twice on tour before age 21.

“It’s really amazing. A few months ago, I didn’t have any status in the US, and now being a two-time winner on tour, having that place with Tiger, it’s an unbelievable feeling for me,” said Kim, who began the week feeling under the weather and had never before seen TPC Summerlin. “It’s an honour for me, and it’s definitely a dream come true.”

Only Ralph Guldahl was younger than Kim, by less than a month, when he won his second tour title in 1932 at the Arizona Open. Kim, at 20 years, three months and 18 days, moved past the likes of not only Woods but Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith and Tom Creavy among players in their 20s with multiple victories. He registered his first win in August at the Wyndham Championship, the last regular-season event of the 2021-22 campaign.

Tournament leader in strokes gained/off the tee, Cantlay had the honour on the final hole after consecutive birdies at 15 and 16 erased Kim’s second two-stroke lead of the day. Cantlay chose a fairway metal and hooked his tee shot into the desert scrub. He found his ball lodged under a bush and he barely moved it while attempting to hack it back into the fairway. After a drop, Cantlay put his fourth shot into the water guarding the front of the green. He saved a triple-bogey by dropping a 36-foot putt.

Kim, who also matched Cantlay splendidly in exhibiting a dispassionate day-long poker face, used the opening to split the fairway with a 315-yard dart. He then played safely to the right of the pin before a routine two-putt from 52 feet closed the deal.

“When you have a two-shot lead and you have a guy like Patrick coming at you, no lead is safe,” Kim said of the showdown with the eight-time tour winner. “I just told myself, well, we have a game plan. I was really grateful that [caddie] Joe [Skovron] was beside me with the experience he has, and he really helped me through this week. I just stayed really patient … and I just got really lucky on the final hole. Patrick has played so good this week, and I got really fortunate.”

Kim never trailed throughout the day and took his first outright lead with a seven-foot birdie at the fourth hole. The lead was two at the turn with a 30-footer at the eighth followed by matching birdies with Cantlay at the par-5 ninth. The inward nine was a story of punch and counter-punch as Cantlay birdied 11 and 12 to tie it only to see Kim respond in kind at the next two holes. Then back came Cantlay one last time with two-putt birdies at 15 and 16.

Cantlay, 30, made no excuses for his poor finish, dismissing the notion he was unlucky to find his tee ball in a bush and then being unable to move it for his second stroke. “Yeah, not too unlucky. I made bad swing, and it went where it went,” he said after his 69 left him tied for second at 263 with Matthew NeSmith, who shot 66. “After it was kind of in the bush there, I figured the only chance I had to stay in the tournament was to try to get it back in the fairway. Obviously, I couldn’t get it back in the fairway.

“I played well all week for the most part. One bad swing at the end,” Cantlay added. “Would have liked to have closed the deal out today, but sometimes that’s golf. All in all, it was a good week, and I played a lot of solid shots. Obviously, the last hole makes the whole week kind of sour.”

It wasn’t the first time Kim has got the better of Cantlay. Just two weeks ago at the Presidents Cup, Kim sank a 10-footer for birdie on the 18th hole at Quail Hollow Club to give him and countryman Si Woo Kim a 1-up four-ball victory over Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

A wild-card pick by International captain Trevor Immelman, Kim said exposure to the pressures of his first Presidents Cup came in handy during the tense final round.

“I just had to really focus on my own game, and I feel like the experience from the Presidents Cup … it could have been match play, but I didn’t really think of it that way because really, on this golf course, there’s a lot of low scores, and anyone who plays well will have a chance,” he explained. “I just told myself, stick with the game plan. Whether I win or not, as long as I execute my shots and do what I need to do, that’s all I focused on, and I’m just grateful to be on top.”

Naturally, he felt on top of the world, too. “Coming off a win, the [FedEx Cup] playoffs, the Presidents Cup and a win this week is … I mean, it’s absolutely amazing,” Kim said. “I’ve just got to keep going, and I’m enjoying the ride, so hopefully many more to come.”

Is there any doubt there won’t be more?

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The post PGA Tour: Tom Kim’s remarkable ride continues after win in Las Vegas appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.