English golfer Kris Kim, 16, becomes latest teen sensation to dazzle on PGA Tour
English teenager Kris Kim made the cut at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and is the youngest player in almost a decade to do so on the PGA Tour.
Kim, 16, is also playing the weekend at a younger age than anyone else in the Texas-based tournament’s history, taking that title from hometown hero Jordan Spieth. The American was three months older than Kim when making the cut on his first PGA Tour start in 2010.
Doing so aged 16 years, seven months and three days means Kim is the youngest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour since Kyle Suppa at the 2015 Sony Open in Hawaii. Playing on a sponsor exemption, Kim had four-under-par 67 second round to finish seven-under.
He is the son of South Korean former LPGA player Ji-Hyun Suh and lives in Surrey with her and his younger brother, Matthew. The Seoul-based CJ Group sponsored Kim, allowing the amateur to make his tour debut.
But as the teenager acknowledged afterwards, he set his sights high ahead of his first start. Asked what his goal was, Kim revealed: “Just make the cut, to be honest.”
“I knew something around this number would be good enough, but, yeah, to shoot it, I’m pretty happy.” But he is not satisfied with just getting to the weekend. Kim’s new goal is to “go as low as possible and have some fun out there.” He added: “I’ve enjoyed it so much the last couple of days, and being here two more days makes it much sweeter.”
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Kris Kim of England looks on
Making the cut comes two weeks after the 15-year-old Miles Russell achieved the same feat on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Lecom Suncoast Classic.
Kim acknowledged taking inspiration from the American before his first start. “To see that he can compete, I think I can compete as well out here,” he said via the PGA Tour before adding: “It’s been fun to watch him do well.”
The two played against each other at the Junior Ryder Cup last September, with Kim winning 5&4 over Russell as Team Europe won 20 1⁄2 – 9 1⁄2. By the end of this year, both will have made their PGA Tour debuts, as the American has received a sponsor exemption to the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November.
Russell is the reigning American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Junior Player of the Year. He became the youngest player handed the honour, supplanting Tiger Woods in the record books.
The American also not only made the cut at the Suncoast Classic but also finished tied for 20th. That qualified the youngster for the following week’s Veritex Bank Championship, but he could not make consecutive cuts after missing the line by three strokes.
Russell also became the youngest player since 1983 to finish inside the top 25 on the PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour. Kim could yet repeat that feat, starting the weekend in a tie for 36th place.