Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Kim highlighted why he had to accept a Genesis Scottish Open sponsor exemption spot to even play in this year’s tournament.
Tom Kim is one of the Genesis Scottish Open sponsor exemptions this week, which feels odd.
Tuesday evening, rumors and rumblings surfaced on social media that Kim was forced to accept a sponsor exemption despite being fully exempted into the tournament.
Kim is the No. 17 player in the world. He finished No. 20 in the FedEx Cup standings last year and currently sits at No. 41 in this season’s rankings. He has played in 20 events in 2024, including nine weeks in a row. The 22-year-old has a runner-up finish, two top 10s, and six top 25s in his 16 made cuts.
So why was he forced to accept this spot?
Ahead of the Scottish Open, Kim explained the situation.
“There was a mix-up on my team’s end,” Kim said Wednesday. “With deadlines and stuff with two tours, it sometimes gets confusing. I only found out about it earlier the day before when I got a call from the team saying, ‘Hey, we messed up on our end. We are not trying to do anything weird, but we missed up.’”
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
What a hiccup for his team because this is an event Kim loves to play. The 3-time PGA Tour winner thrives at this event with a sixth place in 2023 and a third-place finish in 2022.
“This is one of the events that I circle at the start of the year, and I know I’m going to play. So definitely, I would not try to do that on purpose,” he explained.
Kim entirely owned his team’s mishap and reiterated this was not done intentionally. He hammered down on his love for the tournament and blamed his team for the mistake.
“I love coming out here. I would never do anything remotely weird to flirt with the tournaments,” Kim said. “It was a complete mistake on the people who help me.”
Kim finished runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at the Travelers Championship in a playoff. He looks to build off that moment this week in Scotland as he tees off for Round 1 with Matthieu Pavon and Max Homa at 3:17 a.m. ET.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
