From haar to hurrah? It wasn’t hats off to the home winner the galleries craved here at the Genesis Scottish Open, but they still doffed the headwear to a worthy champion in Tom Kim.
Oban’s Robert MacIntyre, the 2024 winner, gave it a good go on a long final day at the Renaissance but it was the Korean Kim who remained as solid as the Bass Rock to claim the biggest win of his career.
Once victory was confirmed, Kim let it all out and burst into tears. The trophy engraver must have been shedding tears of joy too. He only had to chisel six letters on to the plinth band.
Kim’s bogey-free six-under 64 – he dropped just one shot over the closing 36-holes - gave him a 17-under aggregate and a two-shot win over the 2021 Scottish Open champion, Min Woo Lee, of Australia.
MacIntyre, after an eventful 69, shared third on 13-under with his Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick, Johnny Keefer of the USA and Japan’s Keita Nakajima.
Four years ago, Kim finished third in the Scottish Open, a result which acted as a springboard to greater things.
The 24-year-old won twice on the PGA Tour later that season and has now established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the global game after a couple of tough seasons.
Kim, who shared second in the 2023 Open and was third in June's US Open, revealed in the aftermath of his triumph that one of the first messages of congratulations he got was from a certain Tiger Woods. Not a bad contact to have, eh?
“This is where it all started for me,” said Kim of his fondness for this neck of the woods.
“I've always wanted to come back here, and I've really always wanted to win. I've had some heartbreaks here. I played in the final group when Rory (Mcllroy) won in 2023. So, I've been close here a couple of times. To be able to finish it off today is really cool.
“It's really hard to put into words. If it wasn't for all this media, and all the photos I have to do, I would probably go into my room and cry for a couple of hours.
“I've had a tough couple years. I got to taste a lot of humble pie, and I got to really learn about myself and I'm still trying to grow, still trying to learn.
"This is one I want to dedicate to the people that were in my corner the whole time and struggled with me and who can celebrate with me.”
After the haar-disrupted Saturday, that was as dour as a Morningside welcome, the sun popped back out, and everything looked rosy again at the Renaissance.
It was time to get cracking. They needed to. The leading groups still had over half of round three to polish off before the final round could commence.
MacIntyre was swiftly into his stride at the resumption. He holed a 30-footer on the 11th for birdie before super approaches into six-feet and two-feet for gains at the 13th and 14th inched him towards the summit.
The Scot cemented his place at the top with a terrific par-save on the last after finding trouble in the bunker off the tee.
MacIntyre’s 65 left him on 12-under alongside Lee and Fitzpatrick, whose 66 was burnished by a birdie putt of some 30-feet on the 18th. Kim, meanwhile, slithered out of a tie for the lead when he three-putted the last in a 68.
The leaderboard was as dense as Saturday’s ruddy fog. It was all to play for.
MacIntyre kept the home fires burning with an 18-footer for birdie on the first, but things began to unravel for the 29-year-old as his outward half progressed.
He three-putted both the fourth and sixth to spill two shots and dropped another on the ninth as his hopes began to evaporate.
Kim, meanwhile, covered his front nine in three-under to clamber to the front but it was all desperately tight with Fitzpatrick, Lee and a few others hovering around.
A shortish par-putt by Fitzpatrick that lipped out on the eighth was a sore one for the Yorkshireman. Possibly not as sore as the bogey that MacIntyre scribbled to his card on the 10th, mind you.
“I was going ballistic after 10 holes,” hissed MacIntyre of an eruption that could’ve been accompanied by molten lava. “I was getting annoyed and it just snowballed.”
To his credit, the Scot held it together and rallied on the run-in. A 30-footer for eagle on the 13th re-ignited his fading ambitions and stirred the natives on the sidelines.
MacIntyre birdied the 14th and was then serenaded on to the 17th by a rousing rendition of Flooer of Scotland. He birdied that one too.
“I got goosebumps,” added MacIntyre, who heads to this week’s Open with plenty to build on. “I wish I could play here every week.”
Kim probably wishes he could too at this happy hunting ground. He was controlled and clinical throughout a physically and mentally demanding final day and more than earned his place on a shimmering roll of honour.
Earlier in the week, Kim, in a light-hearted exchange with reporters, had praised the cleanliness of the East Lothian tap water. His Scottish Open cup would runneth over.
“I still don't drink alcohol, so it's probably going to be a good water night for me,” he said with a smile. The sensible man.
It’s now onwards to Royal Birkdale. Kim will head there on the crest of a wave.
