Michael Kim joins the 59 fraternity at 3M
'You have to go for it, 60 or 61 doesn't really make too much of a difference'
Michael Kim celebrates his 24-footer to shoot 59 at TPC Twin Cities (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Mchael Kim is a hard man not to like. He’s personable, approachable and relatable. His account formerly known as Twitter is one of the more engaging golfer social media experiences you’ll find. In some ways he’s much like another former Cal teammate of his, Max Homa.
So it was pretty fun seeing the 33-year-old Kim join the fraternity of players who’ve broken 60 on the PGA Tour. Kim’s 12-under 59 in the second round of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota makes him the 15th PGA Tour in the 50-something club.
The best part is that Kim was gunning for it. Once he realized the magic number was within reach, he put his foot on the gas and went after it, birdieing the last four holes with made putts that grew increasingly longer each hole — 12 feet, 14, 17 and 24.
“I kind of remember thinking on 18 that you have to go for it, 60 or 61 doesn’t really make too much of a difference,” Kim said. “To shoot 59 today was pretty cool and feels like I’m part of the history books, which is great.”
Kim has won only twice professionally — the 2018 John Deere Classic by a whopping eight shots and last year’s Open de France on the DP World Tour — and his 59 put him in a good position to potentially win his third with a three-shot lead over first-round leader Ben Kohles and four up on Jackson Koivun when he walked off the course with the afternoon wave just starting. So he’s not losing sight of the bigger picture.
“Today was an awesome day, but still, I’m only halfway there so still need to kind of get focused up for the weekend,” he said.
“I think it will be important for me to not compare myself tomorrow to today’s round, just try to — even if I get off to a poor start or just an OK start, to not be so disappointed that I’m not playing as well as I did today. We still have a long ways to go and that guy named Scottie Scheffler is probably going to throw up a good score today anyway. Nowhere near done and hopefully I can shoot a couple good ones for the next couple days.”
But for the moment, his 59 resonates. Kim played the last 16 holes in 12-under, just pouring in pretty much every putt he looked at.
“My putting felt fantastic,” he said. “When you hit a putt and it does exactly what you kind of envisioned before you hit it, it’s an awesome feeling. Felt like that all day out there.”
For those of us who will never feel that way, it’s refreshing to hear Kim talk about how much trying to shoot that number meant to him. He wasn’t shying away from it, knowing that chances like Friday’s don’t come around very often.
“When I play tournament golf I’m most proud of the moments where … you have to step up, you have to take the shots, you have to make the swings and really go for the shots you’re trying to hit and not kind of be too protective,” he said. “I made a really nice birdie putt on 16. It had a lot of break to it and it went in dead center. There’s a lot of water on 17 and 18 and I just kind of told myself like hey, this is the moment to get into the history books and let’s go for it. Let’s not try to luck our way into it, let's try to step up and hit some really good shots.
“To be able to make some putts, and the putts that I made on 17 and 18 is what I get most from PGA Tour golf, from golf in general, so really proud of that.”
Kim was especially not shy with his 24-foot putt on 18, which slammed into the back of the hole with some authority.
“It was just really uphill. It didn’t look like there was a ton of break. I played it about a ball outside the left,” he said. “I tend to leave those short when it’s that uphill and I just, last thing was just get it there, just don’t leave it short. It got there pretty easy.”
Here’s a chronological list of all the players who have broken 60 on the PGA Tour:
Al Geiberger: 13-under 59, 2nd round, 1977 Memphis Classic
Chip Beck: 13-under 59, 3rd round, 1991 Las Vegas Invitational
David Duval: 13-under 59, 4th round, 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
Paul Goydos: 12-under 59, 1st round, 2010 John Deere Classic
Stuart Appleby: 11-under 59, 4th round, 2010 Greenbrier Classic
Jim Furyk: 12-under 59, 2nd round, 2013 BMW Championship
Jim Furyk: 12-under 58, 4th round, 2016 Travelers Championship
Justin Thomas: 11-under 59, 1st round, 2017 Sony Open
Adam Hadwin: 13-under 59, 3rd round, 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge
Brandt Snedeker: 11-under 59, 1st round, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Kevin Chappell: 11-under 59, 2nd round, 2019 Military Tribute at The Greenbrier
Scottie Scheffler: 12-under 59, 2nd round, 2020 Northern Trust
Cameron Young: 11-under 59, 3rd round, 2024 Travelers Championship
Hayden Springer: 12-under 59, 1st round, 2024 John Deere Classic
Jake Knapp: 12-under 59, 1st round, 2025 Cognizant Classic
Michael Kim: 12-under 59, 2nd round, 2026 3M Open