Kim Joo-hyung notches 1st career top-10 in major at U.S. Open

Buoyed by his third consecutive round in the 60s, South Korean golfer Kim Joo-hyung has recorded his first top-10 finish at a major championship at the U.S. Open.

Kim shot a four-under 276 to tie for eighth place at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles on Sunday (local time). Kim, who goes by his English name Tom in the U.S., carded a one-under 69 in the final round, with five birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey.

Kim began the third major championship of the season with a 73, but went 68-66-69 to become the top-performing South Korean for the week.

This was Kim’s seventh career major championship start. He had missed three cuts and had been inside the top 20 only once – a tie for 16th place at the Masters this year.

Kim was two-under for the final round through 16 holes, but had a double bogey on the 17th, which took him out of the top 10. Kim then came back with a birdie on the final hole to sneak back into the top 10.

It was Kim’s fifth top-10 showing in 19 events this season, which includes a win at the Shriners Children’s Open in October last year.

Kim patted himself on the back for that finishing birdie after the double bogey that could have derailed his tournament.

“I felt like I was hitting it great all day. Just one bad shot definitely penalizes this whole U.S. Open. One mistake brings out a big score,” Kim said. “I bounced really hard after the first day, and I had a tough first day. If you would have told me after 18 holes in the first round (that I would finish in the top 10), I would have taken a top 10.”

That bounceback effort included tying the lowest nine-hole score in U.S. Open history with a 29 on the front nine in the third round.

“U.S. Opens are the toughest weeks we have all year, and to shoot under par for three days in a row, it definitely shows me a lot of confidence about myself,” he said. “Definitely pleased with it.”

Kim Si-woo was the only other South Korean to make the cut, and he ended in a tie for 39th at four-over. Im Sung-jae and Lee Kyoung-hoon did not make it to the weekend.

Wyndham Clark of the U.S. held off Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland by one shot at 10-under for his first career major title.