After snapping a three-year victory drought at the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open, Tom Kim revealed that the first person to congratulate him was Tiger Woods.

“You know, this was my first win in three years and the first person that text me was Tiger Woods. It just shows you the type of person he is, how much he cares.”

After fog had wiped out most of Saturday's play at The Renaissance Club, Kim had to finish his third round shortly after sunrise before turning around for the final round that same afternoon.

Kim started behind the co-leaders, Robert MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Min Woo Lee. But he erased the gap early, then seized the lead when Fitzpatrick and Lee both dropped shots on the par-4 8th.

He never looked back, finishing the round at 64 to win after three years with a 17-under-par total. His last victory came at the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open.

Interestingly, Kim's bond with Woods runs deeper than that congratulatory text. In TGL's Jupiter Links GC, they share a close mentor-mentee relationship with plenty of laughs.

“Obviously playing TGL, being on Tiger’s team and being able to really ask him a lot of questions on certain things and he’s been really helpful a lot of the time,” Kim said after his win, per Golf.com.

During a TGL match in March 2025, Tom Kim hit a chip shot that looked perfect. Convinced it was going in, he dropped his club, raised his hands, and turned to the crowd to celebrate early. But the ball caught the lip of the cup and didn't go in. Instead of consoling him, Tiger (along with teammate Max Homa) burst into laughter, literally crying from laughing so hard.

And Kim? When asked for his reaction, Kim replied, “I’m going to wait patiently before it goes in. I learned my lesson big time… For the rest of my career, just wait until it goes in and then celebrate.”

There are countless moments like that where the 15x Major champion was seen vibing with Kim.

Kim made history at the Renaissance Club

The win did more than end a drought. It made Kim the fourth non-American player to win four PGA Tour titles before turning 25, joining Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama on that list.

It also made him the first South Korean player to win the Scottish Open. The smile and energy were still there on Sunday. But Kim was also honest about how hard the last two years had been.

"I've had a tough couple of years," he told the PGA Tour reporter during the same post-round interview, per ASAP Sports.

"I got to taste a lot of that humble pie, and I got to really learn about myself and I'm still trying to grow, still trying to learn -- still got a long way to go. But this one I wanted to dedicate to the people that were in my corner the whole time and struggled with me and who celebrated with me."

After turning pro at 15 and winning three times on the PGA Tour before 22, Kim battled a winless run, fought through a putting slump, and faced constant scrutiny of his game and fame over the last three years.

But he finally overcame all of this just before the last major of the season next week.

"I'm trying to wrap my mind over it," an emotional Kim told CBS Sports Amanda Balionis after his win. "The round I played today really has been a lot of work."

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar