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Final round of Genesis Scottish Open
-17 T Kim (Kor); -15 M.V. Lee (Australia); -13 R. McIntyre (Scotland), M. Fitzpatrick (England), J. Kiefer (USA), K. Nakajima (Japan); -12 M. Thorbjornsen (USA), R. McIlroy (New York); -11 SW Kim (Kor), V Perez (Fra)
Selected others: -9 T. Fleetwood (England), V. Hovland (Nor); -4 J. Ram (Spain), -2 Jay Thomas (USA)
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Tom Kim’s drought is over. The South Korean cried tears of joy after a superb performance on the final day of the Genesis Scottish Open to claim his first title in three years.
Kim suffered a crisis of form and confidence after his earlier win, as well as a sharp drop in the world rankings, but served as a reminder of his talent by scoring 64 points to finish below 17 at the Renaissance club.
The 24-year-old won by two shots with Ming Woo Lee finishing second as crowd favorite Bob McIntyre faltered in his pursuit of a second home title, four shots ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick.
McIntyre, Lee and Fitzpatrick shared the lead after the conclusion of the fog-interrupted third round on Sunday morning, but it was Kim who broke away from one back to claim a stunning victory. He was the only player in the field to avoid a bogey in the fourth round.
“I can’t quite wrap my head around it,” an emotional Kim said. “This is truly something special and I just don’t have words.
“Obviously I’ve had a tough couple of years. I’ve had to try a lot of this humble pie and I’ve had to really get to know myself, and I’m still trying to grow, still trying to learn.”
“There is still a long way to go. But I wanted to dedicate this one to the people who were in my corner all the time, fought with me and celebrated with me.”
As well as the £1.2 million winner’s prize, he secures a place in next year’s Masters at Augusta National.
Rory McIlroy shot a third-round 73 to leave world No. 2 with a deficit too large to overcome, despite matching Kim’s closing score of six under 64, the lowest score of the day.
Americans Michael Thorbjornsen and Johnny Kiefer, ranked seventh and third respectively, will make their Open Championship debut next week, while second place at Royal Birkdale goes to Frenchman Victor Perez.