The top-50 players in the world receive invites to Augusta and Michael Kim was right on the line entering this week.
The past eight weeks have been an absolute grind for Michael Kim, the PGA Tour star who has become quite popular due to his hilarious and honest social media presence.
He has played in eight tournaments in a row, missing the cut only once, all while finishing among the top-13 or better on five occasions. This wild and exhaustive run began at the WM Phoenix Open, where he tied for second. His T-2 at TPC Scottsdale vaulted him from 162nd in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to 86th, a massive improvement that increased his chances of heading to Augusta National ever so slightly.
The Masters invites the top-50 players in the OWGR as of Mar. 30, 2025, or after the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open. So Kim had eight weeks to climb the rankings even further.
He did just that.
Next stop…
Let’s goooooo pic.twitter.com/ZgBxR5yH2k
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) March 30, 2025
The former California Golden Bear tied for 13th at the Genesis Invitational and Mexico Open. He contended at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches the following week, tying for sixth. Then, thanks to his position through the Aon Next 10, Kim received an exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he tied for fourth. Within a month, Kim went from 162nd to 52nd, an unbelievable improvement proving that anything is possible.
But then he faced a setback at The Players, where he missed the cut by a stroke. He missed a four-footer for par on the island green at 17, which prevented him from earning a weekend tee time. Despite the close call, he still did not play as well as he did over the previous six weeks. Perhaps the travel caught up to him.
At any rate, his ranking slipped from 52nd to 54th, four spots outside of the magical top-50 number that would earn him a trip to The Masters. He consequently had no choice but to tee it up at the Valspar Championship and Texas Children’s Houston Open, knowing that strong finishes could get him over the hump.
After tying for 28th at Innisbrook, Kim needed to make the cut in Houston and finish among the top 35. He also needed to play better than Ben Griffin, the man jockeying alongside Kim for that 50th spot and the invite that comes with it.
Kim was well aware of the stakes all weekend.
“I don’t know, I truly don’t know,” Kim said after shooting a 1-under 69 on Sunday.
“I’m sure I’m pretty close to that right now. What’s Ben Griffin at?”
Griffin said The Masters was on his mind ‘over every single shot’ during Sunday’s final round. He knew the stakes too.
“It’s hard, I’m focused on playing in a tournament and trying to finish as high as possible, but at the same time, I know if I play really well, I have a good chance. I figured going into today I needed to shoot 7-under to solidify it,” Griffin said after his round.
“I felt like I did a really good job of giving myself a lot of looks. Missed a few putts. The greens are a little bit tricky out there to read sometimes. I felt like I hit a couple of birdie putts really well. I actually hit some long birdie putts really good that burned edges. It was a really solid round, I think it gives me a chance. We’re just going to have to see where the cards fall.”
The cards ultimately fell Kim’s way, as he shot a 1-under 69 on Sunday to finish at 8-under and in a tie for 32nd.
Griffin, meanwhile, shot a 5-under 65 and tied for 18th, but he will slot into the 51st position in the OWGR.
“When you have a dream as a little kid and you have a chance, there’s a lot of emotions over every shot,” Griffin added.
“I mean, I’m tearing up right now thinking about it.”
Kim also made some nervy swings down the stretch, knowing what was on the line.
“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to make the best score possible,” Kim said.
“That doesn’t change whether I’m trying to get into the Masters or any other day. That extra added consequence didn’t make it feel any easier, for sure.”
The pressure of The Masters never disappoints, but so does the stress of trying to make it to Augusta in the first place. This time around, Kim received the nod, and Griffin will have to try to win this week’s Valero Texas Open — the last chance for a player to earn their way into the field. That’s how Akshay Bhatia made his Masters debut last year. Maybe Griffin can join Kim in Georgia and do the same this year.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
