Tom Kim hadn't won on the PGA Tour since the 2023 Shriners Children's Open. That's over 1,000 days, two swing changes worth of frustration, and a whole lot of close calls that didn't close. On Sunday at The Renaissance Club, he finally got there, firing a bogey-free 64 to win the Genesis Scottish Open at 17-under and become the first South Korean player to ever win the event.
Kim didn't start the day in the lead — Matt Fitzpatrick and Michael Thorbjornsen did — but he ripped off birdies early and never let the field back in. A 4-iron to 5 feet on his way to going up two summed up the day: clean, controlled, and completely fearless.
Tom Kim 4-iron to 5 FEET to go up two. Golf shot.
The leaderboard stayed loaded all day. Min Woo Lee kept pace, at one point pulling within a shot of the lead before Kim answered right back, and Robert MacIntyre — Bobby Mac himself — dropped an eagle on the way through to keep the home crowd engaged.
Bobby Mac DOD EAGLE 🦅
But the real fireworks came from Rory McIlroy, who started the day well back and turned in one of the wilder charges of his season. He went 6-under on the day and, on the par-4 14th, drove the green with a 3-wood — a shot that had golf Twitter losing its mind in real time.
Rory McIlroy just drove the green… WITH A 3-WOOD
It wasn't enough. Kim's lead swelled to as many as 3 shots down the stretch, and Min Woo Lee's late push to get within one couldn't quite finish the job either.
Min Woo Lee cooking up a beauty. Now just one back 👀
Kim needed a clutch up-and-down on 18 to seal it, and the emotion afterward made clear what the win meant. This wasn't just another trophy — it was proof, to himself as much as anyone, that the version of him that broke through as a 20-year-old phenom still exists.
A CLUTCH up & down to save par and get his first win in 1,001 days. Tom Kim. Ice cold.
It's Kim's 4th career PGA Tour win at just 24 years old, and it comes at a good time — he heads into the Open Championship at Royal Portrush next week with real momentum instead of the mounting questions that come with a nearly 3-year winless stretch. For McIlroy, who's playing in front of a partisan UK crowd ahead of that same major, a runner-up finish and a highlight-reel tee shot is a solid consolation prize, but it's Kim's week to remember.