Michael Kim, Denny McCarthy join Wyndham Clark as The Open Championship qualifiers via Wells Fargo
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Earn three available spots via Open Qualifying Series at Quail Hollow
In a not-too-distant past, Michael Kim was mired in a severe slump. Things got so dicey that he went from October 2018 to January 2021 without making a cut in a single TOUR start that featured a cut, a span of 44 events.
Kim retooled his game, earning back strong status via the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour, and now he’s set to take his talents to a major stage.
With a solo-seventh finish at the Wells Fargo Championship, Kim secured a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. The Cal-Berkeley alum maximized the event’s standing among the Open Qualifying Series, in which the top three finishers not otherwise exempt will earn spots in The Open field.
Also securing The Open exemptions via the Open Qualifying Series at Quail Hollow were tournament winner Wyndham Clark and sixth-year TOUR pro Denny McCarthy, who finished tied for eighth. McCarthy won a tiebreaker as the top-ranked player on the Official World Golf Ranking among T8 finishers not otherwise exempt for The Open.
“I love going to play links golf,” Clark said, “so I’m real excited playing it.”
Kim earned his first TOUR title at the 2018 John Deere Classic, eight strokes clear of the field, to earn a spot at The Open the very next week. He rode the hot hand to a T35 finish at Carnoustie and will aim for another strong finish in the United Kingdom. He hasn’t competed in a major since 2019.
This will mark McCarthy’s first appearance at The Open. Clark competed in The 150th Open at St. Andrews, making the cut but finishing a distant T76.