WiretoWire: Tom Kim defends in the desert
3 Min Read
Written by Staff
Tom Kim fought off a pack of PGA TOUR staples to defend his title at the Shriners Children’s Open on Sunday, capturing his third TOUR title at just 21-years-old. Kim’s win last year at TPC Summerlin marked the first time since Tiger Woods that a player won twice on TOUR before turning 21, and now he leaves Las Vegas with a third title to his name. Back-to-back rounds of 68 to open the tournament gave him hope. Saturday’s round of 62 solidified the opportunity. Kim shot a final-round 66 to win this year’s tournament by one shot over Adam Hadwin. Kim birdied three of his first four holes on Sunday to set the pace amongst a packed leaderboard that featured 17 players at or within three shots of the lead entering the round. Kim led Hadwin by one shot until the par-5 16th where Hadwin went for the green in two but didn’t carry the water short of the green. He made a bogey to Kim’s par, who made two more on 17 and 18 to close it out, becoming the fourth-youngest golfer to reach three TOUR wins. Only Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith and Woods accomplished the feat at a younger age. “This one makes it a lot better of a year for sure,” said Kim. Kim joins Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa as the only players to successfully defend a title this season.
The PGA TOUR returns to Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, just east of Tokyo, for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Last year, defending champion Keegan Bradley picked up his first win since 2018 and now looks to become the first golfer to successfully defend his title here. Sixteen of the top 50 in the world are set to tee it up, including American Ryder Cuppers Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Rickie Fowler. Korea’s Sungjae Im will play in his first TOUR event since the TOUR Championship in August. Young guns Min Woo Lee and Nicolai Højgaard are making their first starts at the ZOZO. Past winners include Tiger Woods, former FedExCup Champion Patrick Cantlay and Japan’s top-ranked male golfer and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who is in the field this week. With this kind of world-beating talent in Japan, look for another notable winner this week.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Lexi Thompson gives golf lesson to Shriners Patient Ambassador
MIC CHECK
“I think there's always a little more pressure playing out here. On the weekend I feel like you're playing a little bit more, but just try and treat it the same. We play this for a living. But that's what we do, and try and treat it the same way.” - Monday qualifier Isaiah Salinda after shooting a 63 on Saturday at the Shriners Children’s Open.
BY THE NUMBERS
95 - With his field-low-tying 62 on Sunday, Ludvig Åberg finished T13 and moved up to No. 95 in the FedExCup Fall standings almost certainly solidifying him inside the top 125 which comes with eligibility for all Full-Field Events in 2024 and THE PLAYERS Championship.
7 - Following Lexi Thompson’s historical PGA TOUR debut at the Shriners Children’s Open, seven women have now teed it up at PGA TOUR events, including Michelle Wie West, Brittany Lincicome, Suzy Whaley, Annika Sorenstam and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
72 - After the SAS Championship, which concluded the PGA TOUR Champions regular season, 72 players advanced to the first Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs event, the Dominion Energy Charity Classic (Oct. 20-22). Rod Pampling won the SAS Championship and enters the Playoffs at No. 17.