Tom Kim started the day with a share of the lead and shot a 66 on Sunday to reach 20-under and successfully defend his Shriners Children’s Open title.
“It’s very sweet. I feel like the first two wins came at me really quick. It took a lot longer than my first two wins to get my third one. But it’s very sweet,” said the Korean player.
“This is really for the team. I’ve worked really hard personally, but without their help, I would not even be close to getting my third win.”
Kim is the first player to win the same event twice in a season since Byron Nelson won the San Francisco Open in January and December 1944.
This is his third PGA Tour title in his 44th start at the age of 21 years, 3 months, 24 days and he becomes the youngest three-time winner on the Tour since Tiger Woods (1996 Shriners Children’s Open, 1996 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic, 1997 Sentry).
“I think those two wins, I wasn’t really — I was playing my game. I wasn’t thinking about, okay, I need to win this event, I need to do this. No, I played and it happened. It happened very naturally. It happened very quick.
“I think by the end of last year, two wins on the PGA Tour all of a sudden, ranked 13th in the world. Suddenly you feel like you’re right there and you need to do something extra or something. But it really wasn’t.
“I felt like I almost added a lot of pressure towards myself to perform really well this year. But really it’s been a very big learning curve for me, and it’s very humbling to be able to experience what I’ve experienced this year. That’s why I feel like this third one is even sweeter.”
Overnight co-leader Adam Hadwin of Canada closed with a 67 for a solo second finish at 19-under. This was his sixth runner-up finish in his 245th start on Tour and his 26th top-10 since the start of the 2017-18 season, the second-most of any player without a win in that span. Tommy Fleetwood has the most with 29.
With a career-low 9-under 62, PGA Tour rookie Eric Cole earned his fifth top-10 finish of the season. The Arnold Palmer Award (PGA Tour Rookie of the Year) will be voted on after the FedExCup Fall.
Tied alongside Cole in third place at 18-under are Sweden’s AlexNoren (65), American J.T. Poston (66) adn Canadian Taylor Pendrith (67).
The FedExCup Fall is a group of tournaments played after the Tour Championship to help finalize eligibility for the 2024 PGA Tour season, as part of the return to a calendar-based schedule in 2024. All seven events will be played twice as part of the 2022-23 season.
Nos. 1-50 in the FedExCup standings through the Tour Championship are locked in their positions while Nos. 51 and beyond carry their FedExCup points into the Fall. Nos. 51-60 through the FedExCup Fall will qualify for two Signature Events in 2024: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.
