Tom Kim melted down in the heat of Memphis at the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship and it’s likely to cost him plenty. He finished bogey-double bogey-double bogey at TPC Southwind on Sunday and after starting the week at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup, he was projected at No. 51 when he signed his card. That would mean the end to his FedEx Cup Playoffs, which also means he’d fail to qualify for the PGA Tour’s signature events in 2025.
“This season has just been like this. I’ve played really good golf, and then had some tough finishes. I feel like 2024 has really kicked me in the butt,” he said. “But I’ve gotten so much better. I’ve fought really hard just to get myself many this situation. I was 90-something before we went on this run, and it looks like I’m going to miss by one. But it is what it is.”
Kim, who shot 64 on Friday to help his cause, birdied four of the first 13 holes in the final round and stood in 45th place with four holes to play. “I was actually cruising. A bogey on 16 cost me a lot,” he said.
His first bogey of the day at the par 5 sent him tumbling to 47th. Then the first of the double bogeys – at 17 – dropped him to 49th.
“Hit a good drive and then another really poor missed shot, just anywhere left is fine and missed it right,” Kim said. “I knew I needed something special on the last, and hit a good drive, and the wind switched and the wind started to pick up, and didn’t cover.”
After the water ball, he had 8 feet for bogey at 18 and knew he was going to need it but missed it to the right. Home in 38 and a round of 1-over 71.
“I hit two bad shots that really just cost me everything. Two 5-irons, that’s it. The drive on 18 (which found the water lining the left side of the hole) was a good shot, and it just stayed there and the wind picked up,” Kim said.
As he walked off 18, he stared at the water, where he rinsed his tee shot and that had helped seal his fate. Asked what he was thinking, he said, “Just this year, man. This year has been really tough for me personally. I went through a lot of changes. I played some good golf and had probably five bad rounds that cost me possibly one top 5, one top 10, and something like this. First round, second round I think I finished 5 over my last few holes. When things aren’t going your way, things aren’t going your way.”