Tom Kim produces a clean cut Shriners Open win

10 October 2022: Joohyung Kim wants to be known as Tom Kim. It will not take too much effort. Since securing his PGA TOUR card in July this year, Tom Kim has won twice in his last four starts. He is not even 21. In a tense final round tussle against eight time winner Patrick Cantlay, Kim played with monk like calm to secure a majestic three shot victory in the Shriners Open.

The duo were tied at 24-under as they marched up to the 72nd tee box. Was it going to be one last trek to the 18th hole at TPC Summerlin or were they heading into a nail biting playoff? The questions did not linger too long. Cantlay hooked his tee shot into a thick bush to the left of the fairway and Kim followed through with a precision drive down the middle of the fairway.

In the Vegas desert, these two were punching at each other like boxers. Cantlay caught up with Kim, making birdies at the eleventh and twelfth holes. The Korean responded in kind with a pair of birdies at the 13th and 14th to regain his lead. And Cantlay refused to let him run away by gaining strokes on the next two holes.

Even again, with only two holes left to play, the final stretch was promising to deliver a nail biting thriller. The two men made par at the 17th hole, a 214 yard par-3.

Standing over the dense bush alongside the final fairway, Cantlay had to weigh the risk and take his chances. He tried to coax the ball out of its nest thrusting an iron in sheer desperation. Unfortunately, he moved more sand than plastic and rubber. He would take a drop and send his fourth shot into the water. Eventually, he would make a delightful 35 footer to take a triple, just enough for a tie with Matthew NeSmith.

“I thought if I could get it back in the fairway, I’d have a chance, and I figured it was worth the risk because I didn’t think I’d have too much of a chance of getting it up-and-down from the brush there,” offered Cantlay. “Obviously the last hole makes the whole week kind of sour.”

Cantlay has been prolific at the tournament. He won the event in 2017, while also finishing runner-up in 2018, 2019 and 2022. He was T8 in 2020.

Kim won the Wyndham Championship in August before bringing the roof down in the Presidents Cup last month. He went bogey free in the Shriners Open to emulate J.T. Poston, who was the last PGA TOUR winner to avoid a bogey through the week. Poston achieved the feat at the 2019 Wyndham Championship. Lee Trevino also won bogey free in 1974 when he the clinched the Zurich Classic by eight shots, having missed just three greens and two fairways for the week.

“I’m playing on the PGA Tour as a 20-year old. It’s hard to get tired from this,” Kim said. “I’m a five-year-old at Disneyland for sure.”

“It’s really amazing. A few months ago, I didn’t have any status in the U.S., and now being a two-time winner on TOUR, having that place with Tiger, it’s an unbelievable feeling for me. It’s an honour for me, and it’s definitely a dream come true,” said the 20-year-old Kim, winner of the Wyndham Championship in August.

“I got very lucky on the 18th. I’m not going to lie, Patrick played awesome, and it was an honor to battle with him, and to come out on top, I feel very fortunate,” he added.

While Cantlay was scripting all the drama over the 18th, Kim kept his slate clean. Safely on the green in two, Kim ran his birdie putt a shade long before knocking it down for par and a memorable victory.

At 20 years, 3 months and 18 days old, Kim becomes the first golfer since Tiger Woods to win twice on the PGA TOUR before turning 21. He is also the second-youngest player to win two PGA TOUR events before turning 21. Kim happens to be just a month older than Ralph Guldahl, when the curious American won the 1932 Arizona Open for his second win.