{"id":438418,"date":"2026-07-12T22:49:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T22:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=438418"},"modified":"2026-07-13T09:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T09:54:46","slug":"tom-kim-did-what-scottie-scheffler-and-rory-mcilroy-couldnt-at-the-genesis-scottish-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/tom-kim-did-what-scottie-scheffler-and-rory-mcilroy-couldnt-at-the-genesis-scottish-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Kim Did What Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy Couldn&#8217;t at the Genesis Scottish Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Kim ended his long wait for another victory by winning the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday. The South Korean held off a strong field at <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/why-the-renaissance-club-is-considered-the-ultimate-final-test-before-the-open\/\" target=\"_self\">The Renaissance Club<\/a> to claim his fourth PGA Tour title and his first win since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>ALSO READ:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/the-putter-problem-why-tom-kim-cant-find-the-right-fit\/\" target=\"_self\">The Putter Problem: Why Tom Kim Can\u2019t Find the Right Fit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>ALSO READ:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/2026-british-open-scottie-scheffler\/\" target=\"_self\">2026 British Open: Why Scottie Scheffler at +550 Is Not a Slam Dunk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scheffler entered the week as the world No. 1 and one of the overwhelming favorites, while McIlroy was widely tipped to contend after another strong season. Neither could lift the trophy. Instead, Kim outplayed both of golf&#8217;s biggest stars when it mattered most, producing four consistent rounds to complete a remarkable return to the winner&#8217;s circle.<\/p>\n<p>Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy arrived at the Genesis Scottish Open as the favorites. Very few people picked Tom Kim to win. The South Korean had not won since 2023 and had struggled with both form and confidence. He had also slipped down the world rankings after failing to build on the early success of his career.<\/p>\n<p>However, the 24-year-old produced an outstanding final round to end a winless run of nearly three years. He triumphed by two shots, with Min Woo Lee finishing as runner-up as crowd favorite Bob MacIntyre faltered in pursuit of a second home title, ending four shots back alongside Matt Fitzpatrick.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">4 wins at age 24 \ud83c\udfc6\ud83c\udfc6\ud83c\udfc6\ud83c\udfc6<\/p>\n<p>Tom Kim is back in the winner&#8217;s circle!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udccd <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ScottishOpen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ScottishOpen<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WVjT1tsNUK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WVjT1tsNUK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/2076376549641605588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">The Favorites Could Not Deliver<\/h3>\n<p>Scheffler&#8217;s challenge ended much earlier than anyone expected. The world No. 1 struggled during the second round and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/scottie-schefflers-consistency-streak-finally-ends-at-the-genesis-scottish-open\/\" target=\"_self\">missed the cut after shooting a two-over 72.<\/a> It was his first missed cut since the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, ending his remarkable streak of 78 consecutive made cuts on the PGA Tour. Fans expected Scheffler to contend for the title, but he left Scotland without playing the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>McIlroy remained in contention longer but could not recover from a disappointing third-round 73. The six-time major champion finished with a brilliant six-under 64 on Sunday, matching the lowest round of the day. McIlroy had left himself too much work to do and fell short of catching Kim.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Scheffler, who never recovered from his early struggles, and McIlroy, who left himself too much ground to make up after Saturday, Kim stayed composed throughout the tournament. His consistency over all four rounds, capped by a bogey-free final-round 64, proved to be the difference.<\/p>\n<p>While the two biggest names failed to win, Kim quietly put together four excellent rounds to produce one of the biggest surprises of the season.<\/p>\n<h3>Kim Seizes His Opportunity As Others Flatter<\/h3>\n<p>The fog-delayed third round finished on Sunday morning with Robert MacIntyre, Min Woo Lee, and Matt Fitzpatrick sharing the lead. Kim started the final round just one shot behind the leaders.<\/p>\n<p>He quickly took control with steady golf from start to finish. Kim fired a bogey-free six-under 64, making him the only player in the field to avoid a bogey during the final round. He also made just one bogey over his final 51 holes of the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>ALSO READ:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/scottie-schefflers-consistency-streak-finally-ends-at-the-genesis-scottish-open\/\" target=\"_self\">Scottie Scheffler&amp;#8217;s Remarkable Cut Streak Finally Ends at the Genesis Scottish Open<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kim finished at 17-under, two shots ahead of Min Woo Lee. Home favorite Robert MacIntyre fell away in the closing round and finished four shots behind alongside Matt Fitzpatrick.<\/p>\n<p>The victory earned Kim $1.575 million (approximately \u00a31.2 million), the winner&#8217;s share of the $9 million purse, and a place in next year&#8217;s Masters at Augusta National. It also gave him the perfect confidence boost ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tom Kim was emotional after winning for the first time in nearly four years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really special. I&#8217;m at a loss of words.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s the fourth non-American with 4+ wins under age 25 in the past 56 years. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FMypLDoxGo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FMypLDoxGo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/2076378854239670733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Kim was visibly emotional after securing his first victory in nearly four years. &#8220;It&#8217;s really special. I&#8217;m at a loss of words,&#8221; he said after the win. The victory also put him in elite company, making him just the fourth non-American to win at least four PGA Tour titles before turning 25 over the past 56 years.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, Johny Keefer finished third, while Michael Thorbjornsen tied for seventh. Both Americans secured places in next week&#8217;s Open Championship, with France&#8217;s Victor Perez claiming the final qualifying spot.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Elliot Miles\/ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Kim ended his long wait for another victory by winning the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday. The South Korean held off a strong field at The Renaissance Club to claim his fourth PGA Tour title and his first win since 2023. ALSO READ:\u00a0The Putter Problem: Why Tom Kim Can\u2019t Find the Right Fit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":438425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBwU1hv40G\" style=\"width: 100%;max-width: 3927px;aspect-ratio: 3927\/4256\"><\/smartframe-embed><!-- https:\/\/smartframe.io\/embedding-support -->","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[8143,338,8111,34,154,8158],"class_list":["post-438418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-pga","tag-genesis-scottish-open","tag-min-woo-lee","tag-robert-macintyre","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-scottie-scheffler","tag-tom-kim"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438418"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":438428,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438418\/revisions\/438428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}