Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Tom Terrific

Tom Kim's free fall from golf relevance was every bit as sudden as his original rise to prominence. And now he is back, even quicker than when he went away.

It's enough to give you whiplash.

The rollercoaster ride that has been Kim's career -- and, mind you, he turned 24 only a few weeks ago -- reached its highest point ever on Sunday, when he won the biggest tournament of his career, the Genesis Scottish Open.

Kim shot a final-round 6-under 64 to overtake heavyweights Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre and Min Woo Lee, who wound up two strokes back in solo second. All the leaders had to complete their third rounds on Sunday morning after fog shut things down late Saturday. 

Kim hit No. 11 in the world in late 2023 shortly after his third victory in a little more than a year. He won the 2022 Wyndham at age 20 in just his 15th start on the PGA Tour, then the Shriners a few months later and the Shriners again the next year.

Fast forward to May of this year,  when he couldn't even qualify for the PGA Championship -- and everybody and their grandmother qualifies for that. Last month, Kim had plummeted outside the top 150 of the OWGR.

But since then, he tied for 15th at the Canadian Open, finished third at the U.S. Open and notched this enormous win against the biggest names in golf.

Kim's emotions got the best of him upon winning, and he couldn't hold back tears.

"Just really, it's surreal," Kim said. "You know, I've had long days, long nights, early mornings, and just a lot of just -- I just remember how I felt a lot of the times when I wasn't playing well, and it was difficult. …

"I'm definitely appreciating this more now than I did a couple years ago, which is really cool. So just -- I thought about my family, all the people around my corner that have suffered with me and also celebrated with me and kind of remembering all those people really brought tears to my eyes."

Late in 2024, before Kim's collapse had begun -- or before anybody really noticed it -- there was an incident after a tournament in his native South Korea. He had just lost to countryman Byeong Hun An in a playoff at the Genesis Championship. After congratulating An, Kim went into the clubhouse and damaged a locker door. He subsequently apologized and agreed to pay for the damage.

So maybe there were clues before there were clues. 

To illustrate Kim's fall another way, in 2023 he was ranked 10th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach. The following year he fell to 49th and then 70th in 2025. Now, he's fifth.

Tenth on Tour, Fifth on Tour. Those are elite numbers in the most important statistical category of them all.

Maybe it all happened so fast, too fast, for Kim, at a young age in a new country, though he is fluent in English. If he has gotten past all that, he could really be a force on the PGA Tour. Like it appeared he would be.

There was one big change in Kim's life in the past year, one that may have helped more than we can imagine.

He credited none other than Tiger Woods for helping him get back on track. They were on the same TGL team and, even though Woods didn't play much, he was around, and Kim soaked it all the knowledge he could.

"You know, I've gotten to be able to -- obviously on TGL being on Tiger's team, I've been able to ask him questions on certain things," Kim said. "He's been really helpful a lot of the time. You know, this was my first win in three years, and the first person that texted me was (Woods). Shows you the person he is and how much he cares. Those people that have achieved so much, not a specific person, but just listening to their interviews, seeing how they talk, and when I ask them advice, they have been really nice."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Scottie Scheffler
Even though Scheffler is not having his best season, he had been playing quite good by most standards -- i.e., everyone's but his own -- and a missed cut was not on our bingo card. But Scheffler, in fact, did miss the cut, for the first time in four years since the 2022 FedEx St. Jude.

It ended a streak of 78 straight cashes, the fifth longest stretch in PGA Tour history; Woods holds the record at 142. By comparison, the longest active cut streak now is Fitzpatrick's 28.

Scheffler had finished in the top-25 or better -- usually far better -- in his first 14 starts this season. He leads the FedExCup Standings roughly a month before the playoffs start.

The big question is, where does this leave Scheffler heading into this week's Open Championship, where he is the defending champion?

Well, it gave him two more days to practice at Royal Birkdale, which for every other golfer is not good news.

Min Woo Lee
This was Lee's second runner-up and third podium finish of the season. But the other two came early in the season, and Lee really hadn't done much since. He missed the cut at both the Masters and U.S. Open. This turnaround obviously comes at a good time for Lee, with the Open Championship this week. He was a very accurate hitter at the Renaissance Club – 18th in fairways hit, 13th in greens in regulation. It is imperative he continue that in order to contend at Royal Birkdale.

Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick was going for a fourth win of the season, one that surely would have made him the clear front-runner for PGA Tour Player of the Year. He didn't play badly on Sunday, with a 1-under 69. It's just that there were lower scores out there and Kim (64) and Lee (67) found them. Still, Fitzpatrick heads to the Open as one of the top favorites.

Robert MacIntyre
The 2024 Scottish Open winner, MacIntyre was tied for the 54-hole lead with Fitzpatrick. And he also shot a 69 to share third. It surely was a disappointment playing at home, but he showed he is well positioned for the Open this week.

Johnny Keefer
It's been a rough first season on the PGA Tour for last year's top Korn Ferry Tour player. But this great week of tying for third place qualified him for the Open Championship this week. Keefer now is ranked ninth on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, 14th in SG: Approach and 135th in SG: Putting, so it's easy to see where his trouble lies. He ranked 24th in putting in the field at the Scottish. Obviously, if he could continue that, he'd be a dangerous player. But the Scottish greens are far slower than PGA Tour greens. Still, Keefer is now on the edge of the playoffs, up to 71st in the point standings. Joining him at Royal Birkdale with the three Open berths to the highest non-exempt Scottish finishers will be Michael Thorbjornsen, who tied for seventh, and Victor Perez, who tied for ninth.

Keita Nakajima
Nakajima's rookie season on the PGA Tour has been a struggle. As one of the 10 DP World Tour grads from 2025, he had made only 11 starts with just six made cuts and two top-25s before this week. But things got a whole lot brighter in only four days, as the 26-year-old from Japan tied for third. He's now 108th in points – still a long way to go to get into the top-70 – but he picked up a lot of ground in one event.

Si Woo Kim
Kim's best season on Tour continued with a tie for ninth. He shot twin 66s on the weekend. The Open has never been his bag, but he's more equipped to play well this year than ever before.

Chris Gotterup
Coming off a win at the John Deere, Gotterup tied for 11th in defense of his Scottish Open title. It could've been a lot better if not for a closing 1-over 71.

Wyndham Clark
Clark was on the edge of contention again through 54 holes, but a Sunday 71 pushed him back into a tie for 13th. Hey, if those are gonna be your bad weeks …

Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood tied for 13th, his 11th top-25 in 15 starts this season. That makes it five straight tournaments of 14th or better. But that won't quite cut it for Fleetwood at the Open Championship, where it's pretty much win or go home disappointed.

Viktor Hovland
Coming off his playoff win over Scheffler at the Travelers, Hovland tied for 13th. It's been hard over the past few years predicting when he would play well, but he appears primed for a good week at the Open.

Patrick Reed
This was just Reed's fourth PGA Tour event all season -- the three majors and now the Scottish, which he got into via his DPWT membership. He tied for 13th. That followed a T12 at the Masters, a T10 at the PGA and an MC at the U.S. Open. The Open has not been great for Reed, but he is playing well going in.

Jon Rahm
Rahm opened with a 73 and appeared headed for a missed cut. But he followed that up with a 65, stuck around for the weekend and tied for 36th. He ranked second in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee but all other areas were subpar for him. That won't work at the Open.

MISSED CUTS

Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Alex Fitzpatrick, Marco Penge, Schauffele missing cuts is almost as rare as Scheffler. This was his second this year – and second since the 2022 Masters. This MC should have no bearing on his Open and, like Scheffler, gave him an extra couple of days at Birkdale.  … The MCs for Aberg and Cantlay, while not optimum, have not been common this season. No reason to worry. … For Koepka, however, this season is fast becoming a disaster, one in which it's looking like he won't make the playoffs. .. Lowry missing the Scottish cut does not really bode well for the Open. … Fitzpatrick had to cool down some time. It's just surprising it came in the U.K. … Penge missed seven weeks after the PGA Championship with an illness and returned last week to tie for ninth at the BMW International Open.

ISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

Steven Fisk defeated Taylor Pendrith on the third extra hole to win the opposite-field event in Kentucky. It was the second win of Fisk's PGA Tour career.  So Fisk will be back in the Masters next year. Aaron Wise and Ben Silverman tied for third a stroke back. The 30-year-old Wise has been battling back from mental health issues, and this was just his second made cut in eight starts in 2026. Jackson Koivun, in his second pro start after missing the cut last week at the John Deere, tied for 10th.

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.