Rory McIlroy was back to something approaching his best in the final round of the Geneis Scottish Open, but the damage was done in round three and Tom Kim produced a links golf masterclass at The Renaissance Club to claim a convincing victory.
The Masters champion started the final round six shots back after coming out slow after the severe fog delays on Saturday and being unable to arrest the damage in the 10 holes he returned for on Sunday morning, but he came out all guns blazing in round four and birdied five of the first seven.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep the momentum up and a bogey on the ninth proved to be one mistake too many.
Three birdies and one dropped shot on the back nine saw him climb back into a share of seventh at the end of the day and though he was disappointed not to have added a second Scottish Open trophy to his cabinet, it leaves him going into the Open Championship feeling his game is in a good place if he can iron out a few of the flaws which surfaced in round three.
“It’s nice to sign this week off with a good score but I know I need to do a bit of work between now and Thursday to feel really comfortable with my game,” he said. “But I don’t feel like it’s too far away – there’s definitely some positive signs.”
Tom McKibbin closed out with a level-par 70 to end the week tied for 30th, and, like McIlroy, he can take the positives to Royal Birkdale.
But the day belonged to Kim. The South Korean was flawless, being the only one of the 71-strong field not to drop a single shot in the testing winds of the final round.
Six birdies in total saw him post a closing 64 for a 17 under par total, two shots clear of Australian Min Woo Lee who carded a 67, and four clear of a group of four players: England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, American Johnny Keefer, Japan’s Keita Nakajima and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
It was the 24-year-old from Seoul’s first victory on the DP World Tour and his fourth triumph in total on the PGA TOUR in this, a co-sanctioned event between the two Tours.
Starting the final round one shot off the pace, Kim made his intentions clear early with a birdie four on the opening hole and further gains at the fourth and seventh saw him to the turn in 32 to edge in front.
Several challengers threatened from the pack but birdies at the tenth and 12th reaffirmed his control and when an excellent approach to six feet at the 16th yielded another birdie three, the title was firmly in his grasp.
He gave Lee – waiting in the final group in the 18th fairway behind him – a slight glimmer of hope when he pushed his approach shot through the green at the last, but a nerveless up and down finally closed the door on any hopes the Australian was harbouring.
“It’s awesome. It’s been a while since I lifted a trophy up. I forgot how heavy it was,” Kim joked.
“This is where it all started for me. Gave me status and I finished third year. It got me almost temporary status and I secured it next week at the British and I went on to play two times that year and played in The Presidents Cup.
“I’ve had some heartbreaks here. I finished third. I played in the final group when Rory won. I’ve been close here a couple times. To be able to just kind of finish it off today and really win an event like this, it’s really cool for me.
“No, it’s really cool. Obviously I was trying to win a golf tournament. There’s always pressure. There’s always nerves. But I think the experience I’ve built over the last few years, I really leaned on it, and I trusted my practice, all the work that I put in to try to put myself back in these positions. Today was a really cool day for me.”
Earlier in the day, hopes had been high for a home triumph courtesy of MacIntyre who returned in the early morning to complete his third round which was disrupted on Saturday night by fading light and did so in style, storming into a tie for the lead with Lee and Fitzpatrick entering the fourth and final round.
A birdie at the opening hole had the Scottish galleries dreaming of a repeat of the Ryder Cup player’s win in the event in 2024, but a run of four bogeys in seven holes from the fourth put paid to his chances.
The 29-year-old from Oban did have the consolation, however, of claiming the Jock MacVicar AGW Memorial Award given to the leading Scot in the tournament in memory of the legendary Scottish journalist who passed away in 2021.
Other players taking something from the week were the Americans Keefer and Thorbjornsen alongside Frenchman Victor Perez, who all claimed spots in next week’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale through the final event in the current Open Qualifying Series.
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