Min Woo Lee runner-up in Scotland as Tom Kim’s brilliance returns
Tom Kim – back in the winner’s circle – image Getty Images
Min Woo Lee reversed some rather ordinary recent form when he finished runner-up to South Korean Tom Kim at the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick.
Lee, who has missed two of his last three PGA Tour cuts and finished 62nd in the other, once again displayed a liking for the layout he won this event on five years ago, finishing two shots behind Kim and two ahead of world number four Matthew Fitzpatrick.
The fog-disrupted event meant that the third round was not finished until Sunday morning, and when it had, Lee, Mathew Fitzpatrick and Robert McIntyre led at 12 under par and one ahead of Kim.
Still only 24 years of age, Kim produced a bogey-free round of 64, taking control at the turn and finishing the day with a final nine of 32 to win his fourth PGA Tour title and US$1,575,000.
It was Kim’s first victory since October 2023, but a recent 3rd place at the US Open suggested he was getting back to the sort of game that had made him such a talked-about young golfer in his early career.
“It’s awesome,” said Kim. “It’s been a while since I lifted a trophy. I forgot how heavy it was.
“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.
“I’ve always wanted to come back (to this event), and I’ve really always wanted to win. This is where it all started for me. Gave me status, and I finished third that 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 of 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.
“It’s really hard to put into words. If it wasn’t for all this media, all the photos, I would probably go in my room and try for can I couple hours. Just really, it’s surreal. You know, I’ve had long days, long nights, early mornings, and just a lot of just — I just remember how I felt a lot of the times when I wasn’t playing well, and it was difficult. Golf, I can’t say that I’m going to continue this run. Golf is a very up-and-down sport. That’s something I’ve learned.
“I’m definitely appreciating this more now than I did a couple of years ago, which is really cool. So just — I thought about my family, all the people around my corner that have suffered with me and also celebrated with me, and kind of remembering all those people really brought tears to my eyes.”
For Lee, it provided a great boost ahead of next week’s Open Championship.
“I was kind of in my own world out there,” said the West Australian. “Obviously Tom played great. I thought I played really solid. Didn’t make too many mistakes and holed the putts when I needed to. Yeah, I don’t know, it was, whatever, 50 holes or something that he didn’t make a bogey, so that’s very impressive, and that’s how you win tournaments.
“But no, I was just — I’m just happy with the week, and obviously a win would have been nice. But it was one of the first weeks that I was very — just happy with myself mentally. I don’t think I missed too many shots out there, which was great to see. Of course, you’re nervous on some shots, but I seem to get on the better side of it, and I think that’s a lot of maturity and a lot of good stuff with technique.
“So I’m really excited for next week.”
Cam Davis produced his best result in some time when he finished 21st, while Karl Vilips and Ryan Fox did next best of the Australasians when they tied for 30th place.
Davis has missed six of his last seven cuts in the US and slipped to 336th in the world ranking so this was an encouraging result for the New South Welshman.
