Kim’s big win comes with trip to Scotland
SILVIS, Ill. — Michael Kim didn’t just earn his first PGA Tour win Sunday. He dominated in a fashion never seen at TPC Deere Run.
Kim’s prizes? A little more than a million bucks, a two-year exemption on tour and a trip to the British Open, which starts Thursday at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland. It was an unexpected bonus for a player who had missed five of his previous six cuts before this breakthrough.
He closed with a 5-under-par 66 to win the John Deere Classic by a record-setting eight strokes. Kim, who turned 25 on Saturday, finished at 27-under 257 to break Steve Stricker’s tournament record from 2010 by one shot. Kim also made 30 birdies for the week, a season high on tour in 2018.
“To be able to finish out in style like this, it means a lot,” said Kim, who nearly quadrupled his season earnings with a winner’s share of $1.044 million. “To be sitting here with a trophy, I’m at a loss for words.”
Bronson Burgoon (69), Joel Dahmen (65), Francesco Molinari (64) and Sam Ryder (66) shared second, Harol Varner III (68) was sixth at 16 under and former Baylor School and University of Georgia standout Keith Mitchell (67) shared seventh with Chad Campbell (66), John Huh (66), Andres Romero (69) and Kevin Streelman (65).
Mitchell made eight birdies and three bogeys in the final round as he added another strong result to his solid rookie PGA Tour season, earning $168,780 and 80 FedEx Cup playoff points. He has finished in the top 10 four times this season, with all of those performances coming since mid-March.
Kim took all the drama out of the final round with birdies on his first three holes and secured the largest margin of victory during the tournament’s stay at the course, which began in 2000. J.P. Hayes (2002) and Vijay Singh (2003) won the event by four strokes.
Kim, who previously had just one top-10 finish in 84 career starts — he was third at the Safeway Open two years ago — had a five-shot advantage after 54 holes. It was the biggest edge for a third-round leader at the John Deere Classic since Stricker’s six-stroke advantage eight years ago.
The former University of California star made it obvious from his first swing Sunday that he wasn’t about to let anyone catch him. Kim knocked in a 13-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, then holed two more birdie putts from 15 and 24 feet to give him seven straight dating to the end of Saturday’s round — and a seven-shot lead.
His day ended on No. 18 in emotional fashion when he saw his brother, father and mother — they made a surprise trip in hopes of seeing him get his first win — on a video screen.
”I teared up a little bit on the green,” Kim said. “To see my parents here … it made me even more nervous.”
Stone misses 59, wins
GULLANE, Scotland — Brandon Stone sank to his haunches and dropped his putter in despair after narrowly missing out on becoming the first player to shoot a round of 59 on the 46-year-old European Tour.
It wasn’t all bad for the South African golfer, though.
Stone’s 10-under 60 secured a four-shot victory at the Scottish Open, and his third pro win came with a spot in the British Open.
He also left Gullane Golf Club with a slight sense of regret. His approach to the 18th green skipped on and came to rest about eight feet from the hole. Stone’s caddy hadn’t let him look at a scoreboard all day, so it was only as Stone walked toward the green he was informed he had a birdie putt for a 59.
He missed that, but his par putt put him at 20-under 260.
It was officially the 19th round of 60 on the tour — 18 players have achieved the feat, with Darren Clarke doing so twice. There have officially been nine sub-60 rounds on the PGA Tour, with one of them a 58 — by Jim Furyk at the Travelers Championship in 2016.
Eddie Pepperell (64), who led for much of the final round after picking up six strokes in his first 10 holes, finished second at 16 under, a shot ahead of Baylor School graduate Luke List (64), Jens Dantorp (68) and Trevor Immelman (65).
List now heads up the coast to Carnoustie for the year’s third major. Dantorp and Pepperell joined Stone in securing last-chance spots at the tournament.
Breakthrough title
SYLVANIA, Ohio — Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura earned her first LPGA Tour win by closing with a 6-under 65 and making a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Brittany Lincicome at the Marathon Classic.
Suwannapura, 25, is the sixth first-time winner on tour this year. Her previous best finish in 120 starts was seventh at the 2014 Kingsmill Championship.
She picked up three strokes over her final two holes, making an eagle on the par-5 17th and closing with a birdie on the par-5 18th at Highland Meadows Golf Club to finish at 14-under 270.
In the playoff, Suwannapura converted a short birdie putt after Lincicome hit her second shot into a water hazard and scrambled for par.
Lincicome closed with a 67.
Third-round leader Brooke Henderson led by two shots after six holes, but she struggled the rest of the way. Back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes dropped her out of the lead, and she finished with a 2-under 69, one shot out of the playoff.
Singh takes playoff
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Vijay Singh birdied the second playoff hole to beat Jeff Maggert and win the Constellation Senior Players Championship.
Singh knocked in a putt from about two feet after a nearly perfect approach on the 18th hole at Exmoor Country Club, giving an understated fist pump as the ball fell in. That gave him his first major title on the PGA Tour Champions to go with victories at the Masters and two PGA Championships.
Singh (67) and Maggert (68) finished at 20-under 268. Brandt Jobe (66) was two strokes behind, while Jerry Kelly (64) and 2017 tournament champion Scott McCarron (71) finished at 17 under.
Noll, Odell are 11th
Dalton’s David Noll Jr. and Lee University golfer Scott Odell from Claxton were part of a four-way tie for 11th as the Georgia Amateur Championship wrapped up at Athens Country Club.
Odell closed with a 4-under 66 and Noll — who won the tournament in 2003 and 2011 — had a 68. They finished at par 280 in the 72-hole event, as did Macon’s Luke Dasher (71) and Suwanee’s Spencer Ball (69).
The tournament’s winner also hailed from Suwanee, with 20-year-old Georgia Southern University golfer Brett Barron closing with a 68 to finish at 271. He was four strokes ahead of Atlanta’s Alex Ross (68), with Cumming’s Grant Sutliff (68) another stroke back in third.