LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tom Kim closed with a 5-under 67 and finished a bogey-free week in Las Vegas to win the Shriners Children’s Open when Patrick Cantlay fell apart on the final hole Sunday.
Kim changed into the primary participant since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win two times on the PGA Tour sooner than turning 21. The 20-year-old South Korean gained the Wyndham Championship in August to earn a excursion card and he is been hovering ever since.
“I’m having fun playing on the PGA Tour. It’s awesome,” Kim stated.
But he wanted some lend a hand from Cantlay, who will have long gone to No. 2 in the sector with a win on the TPC Summerlin.
They traded birdies alongside the again 9 and got here to the par-4 18th hole tied for the lead when all of it fell apart for Cantlay. He was once first to play and hooked a 3-wood left of the golf green right into a barren region bush in a ravine.
Kim belted motive force into the golf green and by the point he in spite of everything performed his moment shot to the fairway, Cantlay was once mendacity 4 in the ground of the pond.
Cantlay attempted blasting out of the bush to no avail. He took a penalty drop. He then hit out of the barren region sand and into the pond. Cantlay completed with a 35-foot putt for triple bogey for a 69 that gave him a proportion of moment position with Matthew NeSmith (66).
“I figured the only chance I had was to get it in the fairway,” Cantlay stated about his determination to take a look at to play from out of the bush. “I performed smartly — one dangerous swing on the finish. Obviously, I might have preferred to have closed the deal out nowadays, however infrequently that is golfing.
Kim changed into the primary participant since J.T. Poston on the 2019 Wyndham Championship to win a PGA Tour match with out making bogey. The manner the again 9 was once going, no person may find the money for to drop any photographs.
Cantlay birdied the eleventh and twelfth to tie Kim for the lead. Kim answered with birdies on the following two holes to revive a two-shot lead. Cantlay had 30-foot eagle probabilities on the following two holes, riding the par-4 14th inexperienced with a 3-wood and attaining the par-5 fifteenth in two, whilst Kim needed to accept pars.
Cantlay’s 35-foot putt for triple bogey was once price $160,000, however that was once small comfort. It was once his 3rd unhappiness in Las Vegas, the web page of his first PGA Tour win. He misplaced in a playoff to Kevin Na in 2019 and had a proportion of the 54-hole lead the next yr till a deficient final spherical to tie for 8th.
“I hit a lot of good shots,” Cantlay stated. “Obviously, the last hole makes the whole week kind of sour.”
That left Kim a relatively muted birthday celebration.
“I played solid this week — no bogey for 72 holes,” Kim stated. “I got very lucky on the 18th, I’m not going to lie. Patrick played awesome, and to come out with a win I feel fortunate.”
Woods was once 20 when he gained in Las Vegas after which at Disney in simply seven tournaments since turning professional. Kim now’s the second-youngest participant to win two PGA Tour occasions sooner than turning 21, a month in the back of Ralph Guldahl when he gained the 1932 Arizona Open for his moment win.
It’s been somewhat the yr for Kim, who honed his golfing in Australia and the Philippines sooner than turning professional. He began this yr through profitable the Singapore International and completing runner-up in the Singapore Open on the Asian Tour.
After profitable the Wyndham Championship, he made his debut in the Presidents Cup through going 2-3-0 for the International group and turning in one of the most largest moments with a 10-foot birdie putt in fourballs in a 1-up win over Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Next up is the Zozo Championship in Japan for Kim, who is going to No. 15 in the sector and turns into the highest-ranked Asian participant, shifting forward of Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.
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