Siwoo Kim Ties for 9th "Top 10 in Three Months"... Cantlay Wins in Playoff

Cantlay Memorial Tournament Final Day "Winning Par on First Playoff Hole", Morikawa 2nd, DeChambeau and McIlroy Tied 18th

Kim Si-woo is teeing off on the 2nd hole on the final day of the Memorial Tournament. Dublin, USA - Photo by Getty Images/Multibits

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-joon] ‘American Express Champ’ Kim Si-woo (26, CJ Logistics) has entered the ‘Top 10’ for the first time in two months.

On the 7th (Korean time), at the final day of the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament (total prize money $9.3 million) held at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, USA (par 72, 7,456 yards), he shot an even par and finished tied for 9th place (5 under par, 283 strokes). Patrick Cantlay won in a playoff. After Colin Morikawa (both from the USA) maintained the top of the leaderboard (13 under par, 275 strokes), Cantlay finally secured the ‘winning par’ on the first playoff hole. This is his 4th career win, following the Zozo Championship last October, with a winner’s prize of $1,674,000 (18.7 billion KRW).

Kim Si-woo won his 3rd career title after a long 3 years and 8 months since the 2017 Players Championship, known as the ‘5th Major’, at the American Express in January. It is rather surprising considering he struggled recently, missing the cut four times in the last 13 tournaments. After fading in presence with a tie for 55th at the AT&T Byron Nelson, missing the cut at the PGA Championship, and withdrawing from the Charles Schwab Challenge, he has at least regained confidence by finishing in the ‘Top 10’.

Starting the day tied for 6th, he recorded 1 eagle, 3 birdies, and 5 bogeys. Although bogeys came consecutively on the 1st and 3rd holes early on, he made an eagle on the 5th hole (par 5), holing a 6-meter putt from off the green. After exchanging a birdie on the 7th hole (par 4) for a bogey on the 11th hole (par 5), he regained momentum with back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes. However, two bogeys on the late 16th and 18th holes were unfortunate for Kim Si-woo. His iron shots faltered, halting his challenge for the ‘Top 5’.

Patrick Cantlay (left) is being congratulated by tournament host Jack Nicklaus immediately after winning the Memorial Tournament. Dublin, USA = Getty Images / Multibits Photo by Multibits

Cantlay was the winner of this tournament in 2019. Among his 4 wins, 2 came at Muirfield Village, showing a particularly strong affinity for the course. His previous 3 wins?4 under par at the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, 8 under par at the 2019 Memorial Tournament, and 7 under par at last year’s Zozo Championship?were all marked by strong final round surges. This earned him the nickname ‘comeback specialist.’ On this day as well, he created a dramatic playoff with a birdie on the 17th hole (par 3), overcoming a one-stroke deficit.

Morikawa finished 2nd, and Scottie Scheffler (USA) took 3rd place (11 under par, 277 strokes). The slugfest between ‘Hulk’ Bryson DeChambeau (USA) and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) ended in a tie, both finishing tied for 18th place (1 under par, 287 strokes). ‘Texas boy’ Jordan Spieth (USA) joined this group. For Korea, Kang Sung-hoon (34) finished tied for 32nd (1 over par, 289 strokes), and Lee Kyung-hoon (30, both CJ Logistics) tied for 65th (10 over par, 298 strokes).