Michael Kim (golfer)
| Michael Kim | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Michael Sangwon Kim | ||
| Born | July 14, 1993 Seoul, South Korea | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality | United States | ||
| Residence | Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||
| Career | |||
| College | University of California, Berkeley | ||
| Turned professional | 2013 | ||
| Current tours | PGA Tour European Tour | ||
| Former tour | Korn Ferry Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 2 | ||
| Highest ranking | 35 (November 16, 2025)[1] (as of March 22, 2026) | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 1 | ||
| European Tour | 1 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | T27: 2025 | ||
| PGA Championship | T55: 2025 | ||
| U.S. Open | T17: 2013 | ||
| The Open Championship | T35: 2018 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Michael Sangwon Kim (born July 14, 1993) is an American professional golfer with one PGA Tour victory and one European Tour victory.
Early life and amateur career
Kim is the son of Sun and Yun Kim. He was born in Seoul, South Korea but raised in San Diego, California and went to Torrey Pines High School.
Kim attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he was teammates with Max Homa. In April 2013, Kim was Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Month.
On June 2, 2013, he became the first Cal men's golfer to ever win national player of the year honors when he was named by the Golf Coaches Association of America as the Division I recipient of the 2013 Jack Nicklaus Award.
On June 11, 2013, Kim won the Haskins Award, which is given to the national player of the year in men's college golf and selected by voting from players, coaches and members of the national media.[2]
Kim qualified for the 2013 U.S. Open by being co-medalist at his sectional qualifier.[3] After the third round, Kim was tied for 10th.[4] He finished tied for 17th and was the low amateur.
Professional career
Kim turned professional in December 2013.[5] He had limited status on the 2014 Web.com Tour after finishing T-56 at the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament. He played in 17 events, making the cut in eleven with the best finish of T-2 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship.
Kim played on the Web.com Tour again in 2015 based on his finish in the Web.com Tour Finals. He finished 13th on the money list in the 2015 Web.com Tour, earning a full-time membership to the PGA Tour for 2016.
Kim has been a full-time member of the PGA Tour since 2016, and won his first PGA Tour event at the 2018 John Deere Classic by eight shots, setting the Tournament scoring record. In the process, he earned the final invitation to the 2018 Open Championship.
Kim missed 19 cuts in 20 events on the PGA Tour in 2019 and, as of August 26, 2019, fell to 502nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.
In the 2020–21 PGA Tour season, Kim made only nine cuts in thirty starts and finished 214th in the 2021 FedEx Cup. He lost his full PGA Tour Card. In 2021–22, Kim returned to the Korn Ferry Tour and regained his PGA Tour card for the 2022–23 PGA Tour season.
He finished T2 at the 2025 WM Phoenix Open.
Kim won his first European Tour event at the FedEx Open de France in September 2025. He became the first American to win the tournament since Barry Jaeckel in 1972.[6]
Awards and honors
- In April 2013, Kim was named the Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Month.
- In 2013, the Golf Coaches Association of America bestowed the Jack Nicklaus Award to him
- In 2013, Kim won the Haskins Award, bestowed to the top college golfer of the year
Professional wins (2)
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 15, 2018 | John Deere Classic | 63-64-64-66=257 | −27 | 8 strokes | Bronson Burgoon, Joel Dahmen, Francesco Molinari, Sam Ryder |
European Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 21, 2025 | FedEx Open de France | 69-68-66-65=268 | −16 | 1 stroke | Jeong-Weon Ko, Elvis Smylie |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||||||
| U.S. Open | T17LA | |||||
| The Open Championship | T35 | |||||
| PGA Championship | CUT |
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T27 | |||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T55 | |||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | T50 | |||||
| The Open Championship | NT | CUT | CUT |
LA = low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Palmer Cup: 2013 (winners)
- Walker Cup: 2013 (winners)
See also
References
- ^ "Week 46 2025 Ending 16 Nov 2025" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
- ^ "Cal sophomore Michael Kim wins Haskins Award". Golfweek. June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ^ "Michael Kim Bio - The University of California Official Athletic Site". Calbears.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ^ Evans, Farrell (June 16, 2013). "Amateur Kim earns notice at Merion". ESPN. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ^ "Michael Kim leaving Cal to turn pro; will make PGA debut at Torrey Pines". Cal Athletics. December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
- ^ "Michael Kim wins French Open after clutch par putt at the last. Brooks Koepka fades to 4th". Associated Press News. September 21, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
External links
- Michael Kim at the PGA Tour official site
- Michael Kim at the Official World Golf Ranking official site