Tears of joy & Tiger text as Kim ends three-year title wait

--- Genesis Scottish Open last round -17 T Kim (Kor); -15 MW Lee (Aus); -13 R MacIntyre (Sco), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Keefer (US), K Nakajima (Jpn); -12 M Thorbjornsen (US), R McIlroy (NI); -11 SW Kim (Kor), V Perez (Fra) Selected others: -9 T Fleetwood (Eng), V Hovland (Nor); -4 J Rahm (Spa), -2 J Thomas (US) --- Tom Kim's drought is over. The South Korean shed tears of joy and relief after excelling in a compelling final round at the Genesis Scottish Open to claim his first title in three years. Kim has endured a form and confidence situation since his former triumph—as well as plummeting down the world rankings—but served a reminder of his talents with a faultless 64 to finish 17 under at the Renaissance Club. The 24-year-old has sought counsel from Tiger Woods during the dark times and revealed the 15-time major victor was among the first to congratulate him on this long-awaited victory. He triumphed by 2 shots, with Min Woo Lee the runner-up as crowd favourite Bob MacIntyre faltered in pursuit of a second home title, ending four adrift alongside Matt Fitzpatrick. MacIntyre, Lee and Fitzpatrick had shared the lead after the fog-disrupted third round, but it was Kim who surged from one back for a superb win. He was the only player in the field to avoid a bogey in the fourth round. "I can't truly wrapper my caput implicit it," said an affectional Kim of his win. "It's truly peculiar and I'm conscionable astatine a nonaccomplishment for words." "Obviously I've had a pugnacious mates years. I got to sensation a batch of that humble pastry and I got to truly larn astir myself and I'm inactive trying to grow, inactive trying to learn." "I'm decidedly appreciating this much present than I did a mates years ago, which is truly cool. I thought astir my family, each the radical astir my country that person suffered with maine and besides celebrated with maine and benignant of remembering each those radical truly brought tears to my eyes." "Obviously connected TGL being connected Tiger's team, I've been capable to inquire him questions connected definite things. He's been truly adjuvant a batch of the time. This was my archetypal triumph successful 3 years, and the archetypal idiosyncratic that texted maine was Tiger Woods. Shows you the idiosyncratic helium is and however overmuch helium cares." As well as a winner's prize of £1.2m, Kim secures a spot in next year's Masters at Augusta National. Rory McIlroy's third-round 73 left the world number 2 with too large a shortage to overcome despite matching Kim's closing six-under 64, the lowest score of the day. Americans Michael Thorbjornsen and Johny Keefer, who tied for seventh and third respectively, will make their Open Championship debuts next week, while the other spot at Royal Birkdale goes to Frenchman Victor Perez.