At the conclusion of the Presidents Cup two weeks ago, International Team Captain Trevor Immelman sang the praises of South Korean golfer Tom Kim and proclaimed that a star was born.
Kim is more than living up to the hype after shooting a final-round 5-under 66 at TPC Summerlin on Sunday to win the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.
At 20 years, 3 months and 18 days old, Kim became the second youngest player to win twice on the PGA Tour since Ralph Guldahl in 1932. He’s also the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win twice before turning 21. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Kim became just the second winner on Tour since Lee Trevino in 1974 to play 72 holes without recording a bogey (J.T. Poston did so at the 2019 Wyndham Championship).
Kim, who won the Wyndham Championship in August, battled Patrick Cantlay to a standstill until the latter made a triple-bogey on the final hole to gift-wrap a three-stroke victory. It marked Kim’s second win in his last four PGA Tour starts, posting a 72-hole total of 24-under 260.
“I got very lucky on the 18th. I’m not going to lie, Patrick played awesome, and it was an honor to battle with him, and to come out on top, I feel very fortunate,” Kim said.
It’s all the more remarkable considering his rapid rise. A year ago, Kim was in Las Vegas the week of the Shriners tournament. “I remember I wanted to play,” he said. A week later, he made his Tour debut at the CJ Cup thanks to a sponsor exemption. He didn’t play again on Tour until May, but since then earned special temporary status, secured his card for the coming season, notched a win, qualified for the FedEx Cup, made his presence felt in the Presidents Cup and improved to No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“I’m playing on the PGA Tour as a 20-year old. It’s hard to get tired from this,” he said. “I’m a five-year-old at Disneyland for sure.”
He and Cantlay shared the lead going into the final round after Cantlay matched his career low score on Saturday with a 60. Kim was none too shabby on Moving Day either, playing his last 11 holes in 8 under of the third round en route to shooting 62.
Validating his first win wouldn’t come easy. Since 2017, Cantlay being in contention at the Shriners Children’s Open has been one of the safest bets on the Vegas Strip. In the final round, Kim drained a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 8 to build a two-stroke lead. But Cantlay, who won in Vegas in 2017 and settled for his third runner-up finish in this event, wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“No lead is safe around here because you can go so low and make so many birdies,” said Cantlay, who was seeking his third win of the year and ninth Tour title.
Cantlay did just that rolling in birdies at Nos. 11 and 12 to tie Kim at 22 under. But Kim answered with birdies at 13 and 14, the latter of which he walked in from 13 feet. That just meant Cantlay needed to keep going low and he recorded back-to-back birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 to erase his deficit again. Both players made par at 17. Cantlay, who led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee for the week, picked the worst possible time to hook a 3-wood off the 18th tee and into a desert bush. He tried to blast out sideways from a ravine back to the fairway but failed to advance his ball and elected to take a penalty from an unplayable lie.
“I thought if I could get it back in the fairway, I’d have a chance, and I figured it was worth the risk because I didn’t think I’d have too much of a chance of getting it up-and-down from the brush there,” Cantlay explained. “Obviously the last hole makes the whole week kind of sour.”
Cantlay’s next shot splashed into the pond fronting the green. He made triple bogey and closed in 69 to tie with Matthew NeSmith (66), who set a career-best in 88 Tour starts.
Kim made the requisite par he needed at 18 and continues to live up to high praise he’s received, including from his caddie. Joe Skovron knows a thing or two about working for a player with high expectations. He spent 13 years alongside Rickie Fowler until parting ways in August and joining Kim at the Presidents Cup two weeks ago.
“He has that ‘it’ factor that he wants the moment, he wants the big putt. He wants that, and he can respond to it,” Skovron said after Kim’s Presidents Cup performance. “I think the sky’s the limit for him.”
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