2022 CJ Cup: Top 10 Power Rankings at Congaree

Tom Kim is trying to squeeze everything out of his hot streak. Can you blame him?

His remarkable story of entering the summer with no PGA Tour status to winning twice and becoming a Presidents Cup stalwart doesn’t get old to retell.

After a pair of top-10s at the Genesis Scottish Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic, the 20-year-old South Korean broke through at the Wyndham Championship.

It allowed the special temporary PGA Tour member to earn a full exemption and be eligible for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Kim nearly made it all the way to East Lake, coming up just shy despite playing less than half the season.

His efforts helped him make the International team at the Presidents Cup. Kim’s 2-3-0 record doesn’t tell the story, as he was competitive in defeat and played hero with a clutch winning putt alongside Si Woo Kim to give the team hope going into Sunday.

Kim’s energy and bravado in the moment earned him a lot of fans.

He backed up all the success with a win to kick off his 2022-23 season at the Shriners Children’s Open a couple weeks ago. Kim became the first player to win two PGA Tour events by the age of 20 since Tiger Woods.

Kim got back on the horse and flew straight to Japan for the ZOZO Championship. He managed T-25th and closed with three rounds in the 60s.

Now, he’s back in the States to cash in on one more guaranteed money event before he takes some well-deserved time off.

Kim didn’t log enough rounds on Shotlink to qualify for statistical rankings last season. If he did, he would have been near the top in strokes gained approach per round (.727). Kim averaged 301.1 yards off the tee while driving it incredibly straight with a 71.11% fairway rate.

I’ll give his youth the benefit of the doubt to be able to play for the third week in a row while hopping hemispheres. I just think he lacks enough in the tank to take home the trophy against a host of rested stars in the field this week at the CJ Cup.