South Korea’s Tom Kim capitalized on a late error by Patrick Cantlay to win Sunday’s Shriners Children’s Open and became the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to have two PGA Tour victories before the age of 21.
The 20-year-old finished level on points with world number four Cantlay in the final round and secured victory after his American opponent triple-boosted the final hole.
Kim finished a week without a bogey at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas with a five-under 66 to finish 24-under overall.
“I got really lucky on the 18th, I’m not going to lie,” Kim told the Golf Channel. “Patrick played great and it was an honor to fight with him and come out on top, I feel very lucky.
“I have to give a big credit to Joe (Skovron), my caddy. He really kept me going and we had a really good game plan for the week and it paid off.”
The win was Kim’s second PGA Tour title in his last four starts, following his triumph at the Wyndham Championship in August.
“It’s really amazing,” said Kim. “A few months ago I had no status in the US and now as a two-time Tour winner to have that spot with Tiger is an incredible feeling for me. It’s an honor and definitely a dream come true.
“I’ve worked really hard and my team has worked really hard to this point and I’m just really grateful… I enjoy playing on the PGA Tour. I’m a five-year-old at Disneyland.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)