Korea’s Tom Kim finds his groove with T4 finish at RBC Canadian Open

Korean star Tom Kim was in two minds as he contemplated if it was a bit of a stretch to tee up in his fourth successive tournament at the RBC Canadian Open.

The 21-year-old can now look back with glee on his decision as he was rewarded with a T4 finish and his first top-10 of the season on Sunday.

Kim produced the final day’s joint low round of 6-under 64 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club to end the week three back of Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (68), who captured his maiden PGA TOUR victory by a stroke from Ben Griffin (65) with his 16-under winning total.

“You know, it was a debate whether I played my fourth in a row after a major and that's a long trip to Canada,” said Kim, whose best finish prior was T17 at the WM Phoenix Open in February. “But I told myself I’m going to come, I'm going to keep building on good golf and that's exactly what I did.”

Playing alongside Rory McIlroy for the second straight day, Kim, who is already a three-time TOUR winner, uncharacteristically hit only four fairways during his final round but found his range with his trusty iron play and a hot putter which yielded three opening birdies from 21 feet, 30 feet and nine feet. He made four more birdies, all from inside of 12 feet, against a lone dropped shot on the 14th hole.

Kim’s return to top form is timely as he moved 10 rungs up to 66th place on the FedExCup standings – the top 70 following the Wyndham Championship qualify for the Playoffs – while he solidified his chase for coveted spots in the Paris Olympic Games and the International Team for the Presidents Cup.

While he must now quickly recharge his batteries, Kim is pumped to tee up in the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday starting on Thursday, followed by the U.S. Open in the following week.

“My game is in a really good spot," Kim said. "You know I've worked really hard to kind of get back on it. Obviously very frustrating times this year but to kind of see this (result) with the conditions that we played in it's just very rewarding. Obviously I am tired with the travel and stuff but you know, I think I feel like I really needed this."

Under persistent rain, Kim kept his head down to rise up the leaderboard as he matched McIlroy blow for blow. The Northern Irishman, a 26-time PGA TOUR winner, hit six birdies for an unblemished card. “I made a few putts, obviously," Kim added. "I hit four fairways, that was really tough. It's hard when it's raining and you got wet rough. But I grinded well. Putter definitely bailed me out a lot. Just pretty happy, I mean just, scoring-wise, I felt I did a really good job of scoring."

Kim reckons his partnership with veteran caddie Paul Tesori is beginning to pay off as well. “This is my first top 10 of the year and during tough times, I think perspective, he's just been, he's been through everything," said Kim. "So, like he's seen it and the perspective helps me a lot. Just the little things I need to get better. I think it's a constant good relationship we have to kind of figure it out, and he's been a huge help. It's been tough sometimes, but at the same time it's been nothing but a blast."