Compatriot Im Sung-jae and American John Huh tied for second place with 15-am.
The triumph automatically joins Kim as a full-time member of the Tour and stamps his ticket to next week’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, where he will battle to qualify for the Tour Championship in August in East Lake, Atlanta.
After six tournaments in less than two months – including top-50 finishes at the US and British Open – the youngster’s recent breakneck journey looks set to be extended.
“I was home for two weeks this year, so I was like, ‘You know what? Get my PGA Tour card for next season, I can go back and relax for a week’ but I don’t think that’s going to happen. ‘ Kim told reporters.
“It will be my eighth straight week if I make it to the Tour Championship. It’s a lot of golf but I enjoy it and am honored to play on the PGA Tour, it’s amazing.”
Thomas the tank
It was a historic win, recorded in historic fashion, as Kim, after shooting a quadruple bogey on his opening hole of the event, broke the front nine on the final day.
A bogey on the 10th was the only blemish on the 20-year-old’s scorecard, while back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th produced a resounding win made all the more impressive given the disastrous start.
“It’s crazy. I’ve never won a golf tournament that started with a quad,” Kim said.
“I said to myself from the start of the week, ‘Just have fun, enjoy it, you already have your card, just enjoy every single moment of it and just have fun and just don’t get too intense with it.’
“But that back nine was insane, it was probably the most intense round I’ve ever played. My putter felt like 200 pounds today, I’m not going to lie.”
When asked about his nickname, Kim said he named himself after the beloved fictional train Thomas the Tank Engine as a child. Fueled by chants like “Let’s go Tom,” a symbol of the famous blue train can be seen at one of Kim’s clubs.
“You’re supposed to allow your parents to call themselves and I was like, no, I should call myself Thomas,” Kim revealed.
“I loved the show as a kid. I didn’t see them or anything, but apparently I really loved the train … over the years people started calling me Tom, it was shorter, so I went with Tom after that.”