Rookie Tom Kim of South Korea and fourth-ranked Patrick Cantlay went head-to-head all day and the veteran blinked first, on the last hole.
The 20-year-old Kim closed with a routine par to win for the second time in his last four starts on the PGA Tour by three strokes, while Cantlay hit a wild drive and finished with a triple-bogey 7 to tie for second with Matthew NeSmith in the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
Kim became the first player to win twice on the PGA Tour before the age of 21 since Tiger Woods in 1996, and became the youngest player to win twice since Ralph Guldahl of Sherman Oaks in1932 .
“I played great all week and didn’t make a bogey over 72 holes,” said Kim, who won the Valspar Championship in August after claiming six victories in Asia. “We had a great game plan all week, I just stayed patient and it was awesome.
“It was unfortunate what happened to Patrick on the 18th hole, but I’ve worked hard to get to this point in my career. It was a great feeling to have this opportunity to win again. I love playing and winning on the PGA Tour and this just feels so good.”
Kim, whose name is Kim Joo-Hyung and takes him nickname from comical character Thomas the Tank Engine, made three birdies on the front nine and two on the back in a bogey-free 66 and wound up at 24-under 260.
Cantlay, from Los Alamitos and UCLA, followed his 60 in round three with a 69, making seven birdies before his collapse on the final hole.
“I just made one bad swing and tried to get the ball back into play but couldn’t do it,” said Cantlay, who claimed the first of his eight PGA Tour victories in the 2017 Shriners and now has finished second in the tournament three times. “I played well all week and had a chance to win, which is all you can ask.
“I hit a lot of good shots, made some birdie putts and was right there on the last hole with a chance to win but couldn’t get it done, and one bad swing like that can leave a sour taste in your mouth. That’s what happened today, but that’s golf.”
NeSmith, whose only pro victory came in the 2019 Albertsons Boise Open, tied for second with a bogey-free 66, while Tom Hoge collected nine birdies in a 64 to finish four shot back in a tie for fourth with second-round leader Mito Pereira of Chile, who birdied three of the last four holes in a 67, and S.H. Kim of South Korea, who holed his second shot from 102 yards on the first hole and added five birdies in a 66.
Defending champion Sungjae Im of South Korea sank a 31-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole in a bogey-free 67 to finish five stroke back in solo seventh, while former world No. 1 Jason Day of Australia, who has battled injures the last few years, collected seven birdies on the back nine and was six behind in a tie for eighth with Si Woo Kim of South Korea, who made four straight birdies on the back nine in a 67.
Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley and Stanford, who now lives in Las Vegas, birdied four of the first six holes en route to a 64 and wound up seven shots behind in a tie for 10th with Adam Hadwin of Canada, who made five birdies on the back nine in a 68.
Martin Laird of Scotland, who won this tournament in 2009 and 2020, tied for 37th after making a birdie on the last hole for a 69, while 2012 champion Ryan Moore, who played at UNLV, tied for 28th after closing with a bogey-free 65 by carding three birdies on each nine.
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