Tom Kim may officially be him after outdueling Patrick Cantlay in the final round Sunday of the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open for his second victory on the PGA Tour. Triumphant for the second time in two months, the 20-year-old superstar who burst onto the scene at the 2022 Presidents Cup may only be getting started.
Beginning the day at 19 under and in a share of the lead, Kim quickly fell behind when Cantlay opened with a birdie of his own. In lockstep with veteran caddie Joe Skovron, Kim was unphased. The South Korean connected on his first birdie of the day on the par-4 fourth and added two more on Nos. 8-9 to turn in 3-under 32 and in possession of a two-stroke lead.
This comfortable margin would be short-lived as Cantlay found his stroke early on the inward nine. With consecutive birdies on 11 and 12, the pair went into the final third of TPC Summerlin all squared.
Back-and-forth Kim and Cantlay continued to go before arriving at the 17th tied at 24 under. Trading pars on the difficult par 3, Cantlay’s tee shot on the 72nd hole ultimately sealed his fate. Finding the native area, the world No. 4 attempted to play from the brush and left his golf ball at his feet before taking an unplayable and hitting his fourth shot into the water. Leading to a triple bogey, all Kim needed was a routine par for his second win in his last four starts.
Known to be automatic in clutch situations, it was not Cantlay, but rather Kim who held the steady hand. Getting around TPC Summerlin in a bogey-free fashion on the week, he became the first player on the PGA Tour to do so since Joaquin Niemann at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic and the first to do so in victory since J.T. Poston at the 2019 Wyndham Championship.
Consistently applying pressure on his playing competitor, this victory showcases the ways in which Kim may win in the future. Lapping the field on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship for his first win on the PGA Tour, this trip to the winner’s circle was considerably different given not only the competition, but the manner in which it was achieved.
Kim never flustered when Cantlay struck back and if he was, his poker face was strong enough to warrant a seat at a big-money table on the strip. Leaning on his short-game at opportune times, the combination of steadiness, touch and a dash of fieriness makes the 20-year-old not only fun to watch, but fun to root for.
With the victory Kim became the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win twice on the PGA TOUR before turning 21.
While comparisons to Tiger Woods are far-fetched, it did almost feel Tiger-esque. Slowly draining the life out of the rest of the field, Kim never blinked in the face of adversity. When punched, he punched back. When faced with sticky situations, he played conservatively aggressive. And when given a chance to step on the neck, he took one giant step in more ways than one. Grade: A+
Here are the rest of our grades for the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open.
T2. Patrick Cantlay (-21): We may never see a 72nd hole from Cantlay like that ever again as the 2017 Shriners Children’s Open winner carded a triple bogey on the final hole to hand Kim the trophy. While some will suggest it was another quality outing for Cantlay — his third runner-up at TPC Summerlin in addition to his win — he needs to start putting these tournaments away. On the heels of a season where he lost in two playoffs and was a runner-up once more, the Californian has admitted to being tired of falling short. Yes, he has eight wins in his PGA Tour career, but given his talent, consistency and mental fortitude, it sure does feel light. Grade: A
7. Sungjae Im (-19): It was a nice defense for Im, who was nearly perfect except for a 70 in Round 2 that mostly took him out of the tournament. Across the last two Shriners Children’s Opens, Im has lost to just six total golfers. The question now is how close to No. 1 he can get. In the last five years, Im’s Data Golf ranking has looked like this: 230-80-30-25-15. Right now he’s No. 11. Can he get all the way into the top five or, gulp, even close to No. 1 over the next few years? Grade: A-
T8. Jason Day (-18): The former major winner closed with 63 to jump into the top 10, and it made me wonder what in the world Day has been up to over the last few years. So I dove into his statistics and his finishes. Day hasn’t won since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, but he has finished in the top 20 in over 20% of his events in each of the last four year. The biggest problems for Day have been with his iron play, where he went to a top 25 type player to barely tour average. He’s also gone from being the best putter in the world to being just a solid player. Hopefully the Shriners, which is his only individual top 10 since January, will be a nice kick start to him for 2023. Grade: A
T12. Davis Thompson (-16): Remember the name. Or should I say, remember the name? Thompson led after the first round of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot when he was still an amateur at Georgia. After a nice year in 2022 on the Korn Ferry Tour—Thompson had four top 10s, including a win—he’s off to a good PGA Tour start this fall with three made cuts, including a T9 at the Fortinet Championship and this week’s T12. The even better news? He flushed it all week and was the worst putter of anybody inside the top 19 on this leaderboard. He’s somebody to keep an eye on over the next month. Grade: A-
T28. Patrick Welch (-13): You might be asking, “Wait, who in the world is Patrick Welch?” which is a totally reasonable question. The answer: He’s an amateur who plays collegiately for Oklahoma, is ranked No. 44 in the world, plays cross-handed and beat over 100 pros this week doing so. Here’s a look at his wild swing, which must be working considering he finished top 25 in the field in both strokes gained on approach and from tee to green. Grade: A+
The First Cut podcast crew is back to bring you their recap for the Shriners Children’s Open and the LIV Bangkok event. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.