Tom Kim clinches TOUR card with record-tying Sunday at Rocket Mortgage

All aboard the Tom Kim train.

The 20-year-old South Korean (birth name Joohyung Kim) produced a dynamic double in Sunday’s final round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Not only did Kim match a Detroit GC tournament course record with a 9-under 63, but he acquired enough non-member FedExCup points to clinch his PGA TOUR card for 2022-23.

Kim now holds 417 non-member FedExCup points, which would place him No. 97 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List if he were a member. By earning equivalent points to No. 125 after next week’s Wyndham Championship, he will earn his card for next season. There is not a scenario where 29 players could pass him next week.

“It means everything,” said Kim of earning a PGA TOUR card for next season. “Every day I've played golf, I thought about playing on the PGA TOUR, it was nothing else. It could get a little emotional tonight, but it's definitely been a dream. It's been a road."

Kim stood T24 entering the final round in Detroit, knowing a strong finish could allow him to make an appreciative scheduling change and remove the Korn Ferry Tour Finals from his calendar (an alternate avenue to earn his TOUR card next month). He delivered with seven birdies and a hole-out eagle from 126 yards at the par-4 10th, moving safely inside the top 10 on the leaderboard.

Kim received a sponsor exemption into the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his eighth TOUR start of the season. He had already earned Special Temporary Membership by surpassing the No. 150 position on last season’s FedExCup via non-member points, with three top-25s highlighted by a solo third at the Genesis Scottish Open earlier this month.

As a non-member, Kim will not be exempt into the FedExCup Playoffs unless he wins next week’s Regular Season-ending Wyndham Championship. His showing in Detroit, though, ensures that his non-member FedExCup points will exceed No. 125 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List upon the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship.

Kim turned pro in 2018 and has already won twice on the Asian Tour and twice on the Korean Tour. He arrived in Detroit at No. 39 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

The kid who adopted the American name Thomas due to his fascination with the television series “Thomas the Tank Engine” is now set to assume well-deserved status as a PGA TOUR member.