07/12/26 02:51:00
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07/12 14:49 CDT Tom Kim gets the engine back on track with a Scottish Open
victory
Tom Kim gets the engine back on track with a Scottish Open victory
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) --- Tom Kim played bogey-free during a tight race
to the finish Sunday and closed with a 6-under 64 for a two-shot victory in the
Scottish Open, his first PGA Tour title since the fall of 2023.
It was the latest and best sign the 24-year-old Kim had his game on track after
spending all season outside the top 100 in the world. He finished third in the
U.S. Open, and then outlasted a strong field and a marathon day at The
Renaissance Club.
Kim, who reached as high as No. 11 in the world at age 21 when he won in Las
Vegas nearly three years ago, delivered the clinching blow with a shot from 203
yards to 6 feet on the par-4 16th, giving him a two-shot lead.
"That second shot might be one of the best shots I've hit in my career so far,"
Kim said.
He finished with a 4-foot par putt on the 18th as his closest pursuer, Min Woo
Lee, watched from the 18th fairway and realized he needed to hold out from the
fairway to force a playoff. Lee closed with a par for a 67 to finish alone in
second.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who shared the 54-hole lead with Robert MacIntyre when the
fog-delayed third round was completed Sunday morning, had a 69 and tied for
third with MacIntyre (69), Keita Nakajima (67) and Johnny Keefer (67).
It was a big finish for Keefer, the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year in 2025
who earned one of three spots to the British Open next week at Royal Birkdale.
The other two spots went to Michael Thorbjornsen and Victor Perez.
Keefer had been the third alternate and Thorbjornsen the fourth alternate for
the British Open, and now they have tee times secured.
Rory McIlroy got within one shot of the lead before the co-leaders teed off
when he shot 30 on the front nine. He wound up with a 64 to tie for seventh
with Thorbjornsen. McIlroy was tied for the 18- and 36-hole lead until a 73 in
the third round left him six shots back.
"It's nice to sign this week off with a good score, but I know I need to do a
bit of work between now and next Thursday to feel really comfortable with my
game," McIlroy said. "But I don't feel like it's too far away. There's
definitely some positive signs."
Kim got off to a fast start in his PGA Tour career with a third-place finish in
the Scottish Open on a sponsor exemption as a 20-year-old. He won twice on the
PGA Tour that year, added another Las Vegas title in 2023 and played in the
Olympics and Presidents Cup in 2024.
But the last two years has been a struggle, and Kim said he worked hard without
as much attention to get going in the right direction.
"I've had a tough couple of years," he said. "I got to taste a lot of that
humble pie, and I got to really learn about myself and I'm still trying to
grow, still trying to learn --- still got a long way to go. But 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 opened with a birdie and said a 2-iron he hit into the wind to 7 feet on the
second hole --- even though he missed the birdie putt --- gave him confidence
that his swing was good enough to win. And then he held off a strong chasing
pack along the back nine without dropping a shot.
Kim only had two par putts outside 4 feet and he made them both.
MacIntyre was done in by four bogeys in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of
his round, only to make eagle on the par-5 12th to at least give himself a
fighting chance.
"Coming home here, playing the Scottish Open, having a chance to win with the
whole crowd behind you is unbelievable," he said. "Just a shame I couldn't give
them something."
Kim, the first South Korean player to win the Scottish Open, was projected to
move just outside the top 30 in the world and to No. 32 in the FedEx Cup with
the season winding down.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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