16-year-old amateur Kris Kim 8-under through three rounds in PGA Tour Debut
04 May 2024
by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Kris Kim Rankings
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Kris Kim (Junior Ryder Cup Photo)
16-year-old phenom Kris Kim needed a solid second round to make the cut at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Tex. He answered the call, shooting a second-round 4-under 67 to make the cut by one shot.
Kim is T36 and 7-under entering the weekend, where he will look to climb the leaderboard even more in his PGA Tour debut.
The young golfer from England and Junior Ryder Cup star is the fifth-youngest player to make the cut in a PGA TOUR event and the youngest since Guan Tian Liang made the cut at the 2013 Masters and Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Kim has recorded eleven birdies, an eagle, and six bogeys to get to 7-under with rounds of 68-67.
In his third round, he recorded four birdies and three bogeys to shoot 1-under 70, his third round under par of the week. He made all four birdies on the front nine after a bogey on his first hole, making the turn at 33. However, he made two bogeys and no birdies to shoot 37 on the back nine. He almost aced the par-3 No. 4 with his parent watching on.
He is the youngest to ever make the cut at the Byron Nelson, as he is two months younger than when Jordan Spieth made the cut in his debut.
"It's been so fun this week," Kim told the PGA Tour. "I didn't even realize that I was the youngest."
ROUND ONE RECAP
In his highly anticipated PGA Tour debut, Kris Kim of England recorded five birdies, an eagle, and four bogeys to shoot 3-under 68 in the first round of The CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Tex.
Kim was sitting at T53 when round one was suspended due to darkness, and some groups will have to finish their rounds on Friday morning.
To make the cut, he will need to post a similar number on Friday. According to DataGolf, there is a 36.8 percent chance the cutline will be 6-under, a 37.5 percent chance it will be 5-under, and an 11.8 percent chance it will be 4-under.
“I would say it was pretty good,” Kim told the PGA Tour after his round. “Conditions out there were pretty easy today, especially with the greens having a bit of rain. But, yeah, I would say 3-under I would definitely take.”
Kim made his first birdie on No. 11, his second hole of the day, holing a 15-footer. After bogeys on No. 12 and 15, Kim chipped in for birdie on No. 16 and birdied the par-5 No. 18 to make the turn in 1-under 34. To finish off his round, he chipped in again on the par-5 No. 9, draining his pitch from 67 feet away for an eagle.
TaylorMade Golf made Kim their latest NIL signing, making him the first European amateur to sign an NIL deal with the company.
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Junior Ryder Cup star Kris Kim to make PGA Tour debut
The English amateur golfer had an impressive 2023, where he won the Fairhaven Trophy, McGregor Trophy, and British Boys. He also won the European Boys Championship, where he set a new course record.
Kim earned the sponsor exemption into the event as a brand ambassador for CJ Cup.
Kim will start his second round at 3:12 central time on Friday.