DP WORLD Tour/PGA Tour : Genesis Scottish Open Leaderboard Results
After Tom Kim ended his spell in the golfing wilderness with victory at the Genesis Scottish Open, first came the fist pump, then came the tears, and then came the text message from Tiger Woods.
The emotion from Kim in recording after he had signed his card for a bogey free 64 -17 was easy to understand from a player who has been on a roller coaster for the past four years.
Australia's Min Woo Lee - the champion here in 2021 - finished two shots behind -15 after a 67, two clear of home hero Robert MacIntyre 69, England's Matt Fitzpatrick 69, Japan's Keita Nakajima 67 and American Johnny Keefer 67 all -13
Keefer will make his Open debut thanks to a closing 67, with Nakajima carding the same score -13 as the pair finished one ahead of Thorbjornsen and 2023 winner Rory McIlroy, who signed for rounds of 69 and 64 respectively -12
Perez and South Korean Si Woo Kim both finished with rounds of 66 to sit at -11 and complete the top ten.
The victory guarantees Kim an invite to the Masters Tournament in 2027, while Keefer, countryman Michael Thorbjornsen and Frenchman Victor Perez earn places at next week's Open Championship as the top three players not already exempt.
"This one I wanted to dedicate to the people that were in my corner the whole time and struggled with me and who celebrated with me."
He added: "This one is up there. I played probably as good as I could down the stretch with pressure and I executed when I needed to.
After success on the Korean and Asian Tours, Kim’s third-place finish at The Renaissance Club four years ago truly announced him on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR stage and within 15 months he was a three-time PGA TOUR winner, Presidents Cup player and on the cusp of the top ten in the world.
Fast forward to just last month and he was outside the top 150 with just two tops tens across 2025 and 2026.
Then all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, came a third-place finish at the U.S. Open and now he is a Rolex Series champion.
The Journey
“It's really hard to put into words,” he told the press after carding a closing a bogey-free 64 for his first DP World Tour title. “If it wasn't for all this media, all the photos, I would probably go in my room and cry for a couple of hours.
“Just really, it's surreal. You know, I've had long days, long nights, early mornings, and just a lot of just... I just remember how I felt a lot of the times when I wasn't playing well, and it was difficult. Golf, I can't say that I'm going to continue this run. Golf is a very up-and-down sport. That's something I've learned.
“I think I was too young to really comprehend of what was happening, and being 24 now, this is my fifth year on tour and I've been a pro for almost ten years. I feel like my journey is just starting because I'm getting older and maturing in a lot of ways.”
“I'm definitely appreciating this more now than I did a couple of 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.”
Now back in the world’s top 50, it would be easy to think that Kim could just turn back to the heady days of 2023 and put this spell behind him as a blip or an anomaly, but the 24-year-old is eager to learn from his recent troubles.
Kim’s friendship with Scott Scheffler is well known and he now has a relationship with Woods, with the two men being on the same Jupiter Links Golf Club team in TGL.
“You know, 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.
Learning from the best, learning from himself, learning to love the work and winning golf tournaments again. Kim may well be right, his journey may just be starting.
EDIT>>>>>> Canadians: Nick Taylor T26 70 67 69 68 -6.....Corey Conners T52 67 70 71 71 -1....Sudarshan Yellamaraju T52 68 65 69 77 -1
Corey Conners and Nick Taylor are the only two Canadians qualified for the Open Championship
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)