The week started with the sport's biggest storyline going the wrong way. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player alive, missed a cut for the first time since 2022, snapping a streak of 78 straight tournaments made. It was the kind of news that normally hijacks an entire golf weekend.
Scottie Scheffler will miss his first cut since 2022… The streak ends at 78 consecutive cuts made
Instead, the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club turned into a proper leaderboard scramble, fog delay and all. Home favorite Bob MacIntyre had the galleries rocking early with birdies and an eagle to match, Tommy Fleetwood nearly aced 17 before actually holing out for eagle a day later, and the Viking Row showed up in horned helmets to will Viktor Hovland up the board. It was, in the best Scottish Open tradition, a total mess of contenders.
Then came Rory McIlroy, who spent the weekend doing Rory things — both good and gloriously bad. On Friday he drove the green on the par-4 14th with Shane Lowry's group still playing ahead, a move that had Fore Play bracing for chaos. By Sunday he was doing it again, except this time with a 3-wood, stiffing a tee shot on the same 347-yard 14th while sitting at -12 and within shouting distance of the lead.
Rory McIlroy just drove the green… WITH A 3-WOOD
In between the highlight-reel stuff, McIlroy also gave the internet its favorite genre of content: a world No. 2 acting like a 15-handicap. After a chunked tee shot he was caught muttering "Oh my god, I've fatted it," and later, after a tee ball that curved wildly off-line at 142 mph ball speed, he added the instant-classic "Ohhhhh my god. I'm so bad at golf." Coming from a guy who finished the day 6-under and 2 shots back of the lead, it was the funniest kind of self-own.
“Ohhhhh my god. I’m so bad at golf” Rory McIlroy. One of us!
But this was Tom Kim's Sunday, start to finish. The 24-year-old, who trailed leaders Matt Fitzpatrick and Michael Thorbjornsen entering the fog-delayed final round, ripped off birdies early and never let up, eventually building a lead as big as 3 strokes over the field. A 4-iron to 5 feet on one hole padded the cushion further, and by the back nine Min Woo Lee was the only one still applying real pressure, closing to within a shot before Kim pulled away again.
Tom Kim 4-iron to 5 FEET to go up two. Golf shot.
Kim closed with a bogey-free 64 to finish at 17-under, good for a 2-shot win over Min Woo Lee, according to Forbes and PGA Tour reporting on the final round. It's his 4th career PGA Tour title and, more importantly, his first since the 2023 Shriners Children's Open — a victory drought of roughly 1,001 days by Fore Play's count. Kim was a massive longshot at +8800 entering the week, per Barstool Gambling, which made the up-and-down par save that sealed it that much sweeter for anyone who backed him.
A CLUTCH up & down to save par and get his first win in 1,001 days. Tom Kim. Ice cold.
Kim was visibly emotional afterward, getting mobbed in the hospitality tent before sitting down for interviews still trying to process it. For a player who broke through as a 20-year-old phenom and then went nearly 3 years without visiting a winner's circle, this one probably means more than his flashier maiden win back in 2022. McIlroy's 3-wood highlight and the Scheffler streak-snapper will get the clicks, but the actual trophy left Scotland with Tom Kim.