Michael Kim’s road back to the Masters has been a long one.
In 2018 Kim notched his only win on the PGA Tour. It came at the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop, in 2018. The JDC is famous for its extraordinary number of first-time PGA Tour winners. Kim was one of 23 since 1970 – a tour record.
Kim’s win at TPC Deere Run was record-setting, too. He strung rounds of 63, 64, 64 and 66 for a 72-hole total of 27-under-par 257 and won by eight shots. Kim’s scoring and victory margin were tournament records.
That spectacular week got Kim into his only Masters tournament in 2019, but his second appearance is just two weeks away. He earned his place in this year’s first major championship on Sunday, and that came in dramatic fashion, too.
Kim needed to get into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and he entered the Texas Children’s Houston Open at No. 52. A tie for 32nd place was good enough to boost Kim into the No. 50 position.
“Obviously I’m very happy,’’ he said before leaving Houston for a much-needed week off. “It’s a tournament every kid has dreamed of playing.’’
Houston was Kim’s eighth straight week of tournaments, and he played in 11 events in the last 12 weeks. It wasn’t just a grueling schedule that challenged Kim, either. He also had to survive a small crack in his driver. That club was damaged in last Thursday’s first round in Houston and he had to make due with it to survive the 36-hole cut. Titleist, his equipment company, didn’t get Kim a replacement club until Saturday’s third round.
Kim’s story runs much deeper than last week’s drama.
After his shocking win at the John Deere Classic eight years ago Kim’s game went sour – really sour. In 2019 he missed 19 cuts in 20 tournaments, and his world ranking plummeted all the way to No. 502. The next year he made only nine cuts in 30 tournaments and that led to his being relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour. He regained his PGA Tour card for the 2022-23 season.
The 31-year old Kim, Korean-born but raised and educated in California, wasn’t even close to making the coveted top 50 two months ago. His world ranking then was only No. 150.
Kim still arrived for the four-tournament Florida Swing in March in a hopeful mood. He saw slow improvement in his game even then.
“When I was on the Korn Ferry Tour about three-four years ago I felt like I was playing really well for a couple-month stretch there,’’ he said while getting ready for the PGA Tour’s first Floirda stop – the Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches.. “Even last year the game was there. It just was a thing here or there that screwed me up during the (tournament) week.
Two weeks later, at Bay Hill, he admitted “the doubts don’t creep in as much, or I’m able to let them go by easier. I’m certainly more grateful than some of the other guys. There were times when I couldn’t make a cut to save my life.’’
While his fall after the JDC win was sudden and puzzling, his recovery has been long and rewarding.
“It’s like four years of work,’’ he said. “Just anything to give myself time to release (the club) as hard as I want. The stuff we have done – trying to get a really big turn to my right side and messing around with the ball position. That has helped me a lot.’’
In 11 tournaments in 2025 Kim has missed just three cuts. In the last eight he missed only one – at The Players Championship. Cuts are a big thing for any PGA Tour player, and Kim – despite all his struggles — has made 112 of 237 since making his debut on the circuit in 2016. Since then he’s earned $9.9 million in official money.
One thing he hasn’t done is make a cut in one of golf’s majors. He came up short in his only Masters, two U.S. Opens and one PGA Championship. Those frustrations could end in this year’s Masters, but Kim isn’t predicting anything after squeezing into the field. Houston’s Memorial Park course is no Augusta National.
He likes Memorial Park, but says “The setup has never been right….It’s supposed to be a Masters tuneup, but the greens are way too soft for that,’’