{"id":438650,"date":"2026-07-25T04:32:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=438650"},"modified":"2026-07-25T04:32:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:32:42","slug":"kim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/kim\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Kim Grabs Share Of History At 3M Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

When discussing the sport of golf, it\u2019s one that always makes sure to keep the athlete<\/a> humble in some way. Whether that be getting a bad break on the bounce, a lackluster swing, or, as seen sometimes on Tour, consecutive cuts. On the other side of that is complete dominance and perfection within your game. Similar to the second-round performance from Michael Kim at the 3M Open, shooting a 59 to make history Friday. The 15th time it has ever been done in PGA Tour history, a true day of excellence. Now with two rounds left and a current first-place seat, Kim will need to hold his composure and execute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim Back In Action\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Starting round two, Kim saw himself low on the leaderboard relative to his current position. It didn\u2019t deter<\/a> Kim from coming out to compete, and he was ultimately rewarded with an amazing performance. The final four holes of the day were knocked in for birdies and brought Kim to 14-under for the tournament.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday was an awesome day, but still, I\u2019m only halfway there so still need to kind of get focused up for the weekend,\u201d said<\/a> Kim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim shot 69 Thursday and holds a three-shot lead over first-round leader Ben Kohles after the Friday morning rounds. Being aggressive and taking chances was the key for Kim, as he saw openings to advance himself and executed the game plan. This marks the fourth 59 posted on tour since 2024. Jake Knapp was the last to hit that mark during the first round of the 2025 Cognizant Classic. Jim Furyk is the current tour record leader with a 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just kind of told myself like, \u2018Hey, this is the way, this is the moment to get into the history books and let\u2019s go for it, let\u2019s not try to luck our way into it, let\u2019s try to step up and hit some really good shots,\u2019\u201d Kim said.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

No Weak Spot For Kim\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you look at Kim’s first round, it would not be expected for him to make history coming out on Friday. He finished with 12 birdies in the second round compared to his 3 in the first. Not only did Kim perform well, but he did so in such an efficient manner.\u00a0 Not scraping the surface of a bogey at any hole, making eight of his birdies from at least 10 feet away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you hit a putt, and it does exactly what you kind of envisioned before you hit it, it\u2019s an awesome feeling. Felt like that all day out there,\u201d said<\/a> Kim, whose only tour win thus far came at the 2018 John Deere Classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last tournament, Kim was not fortunate enough to make the cut at The Open; understanding it was a deep field, he didn\u2019t let it discourage him. Taking some needed time away before this 3M Open appearance has seemed to be worthwhile after jumping 42 places in round two.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI felt decent energy-wise,” Kim said, “so I went home after I missed the cut at the Open, just spent a couple days relaxing and came up here and really happy I did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With two more rounds left at the 3M Open, staying efficient will be the key for Kim. Being able to enjoy the benefits of a strong round two and coming back Saturday with even levels is key. Heading into the weekend after such a strong performance will bring more expected eyes to follow Kim, prompting a higher level of intensity. With those behind Kim like Scottie Scheffler making strong progress, his first-place standing is not yet solidified.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: \u00a9 Nick Wosika-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When discussing the sport of golf, it\u2019s one that always makes sure to keep the athlete humble in some way. Whether that be getting a bad break on the bounce, a lackluster swing, or, as seen sometimes on Tour, consecutive cuts. On the other side of that is complete dominance and perfection within your game. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5427,"featured_media":438651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_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":[15,246,19],"tags":[8156,8127],"class_list":["post-438650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-golf-news","category-pga","tag-3m-open","tag-michael-kim"],"modified_by":"Orlando Fuller","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438650","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\/5427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":438652,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438650\/revisions\/438652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}