Winners, Losers & Payouts: Tom Kim is back, baby! And the Scottish Open once again didn’t disappoint

For 1,001 days, Tom Kim carried around a statistic no professional golfer wants attached to his name.

Winless.

Not washed. Not forgotten. Just winless. That’s an important distinction.

Golf has a funny way of convincing us that if a young star doesn’t win every season, something must be wrong. Three years ago, Kim looked like the future of the PGA TOUR. Four victories before turning 25 seemed less like a possibility and more like an inevitability. Coming off his 2023 Shriners victory, Kim was trending to be the next young superstar on the PGA TOUR.

Then came injuries, inconsistent play and enough close calls to make people wonder when—or if—the next trophy would arrive. He was inching toward losing all status on tour, which is the equivalent of ending up in professional golf No Man’s Land—a great talent with no place other than TGL to show it off. Even Kalshi wouldn’t have thought to add that prospective outcome as a bet contract.

On Sunday at The Renaissance Club, he stepped up and changed the narrative.

Kim fired a bogey-free 6-under 64 to finish at 17-under and capture the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open, holding off a charging Min Woo Lee by two shots. Along with the trophy, he collected a $1.575 million winner’s check, 500 FedExCup points and, perhaps most importantly, the confidence that had been missing for much of the past three seasons.

Ironically, Kim says part of that confidence started while playing golf indoors into the biggest SIM screen.

Earlier this year, he credited TGL with helping him regain trust in his game after a difficult stretch. Apparently all it took was a little simulator golf, a couple of Scottish fog delays, and laser long irons in the damp air that permeates North Berwick.

Seriously.

If there was a better iron player on the golf course Sunday, he was raking and not playing.

Time after time, Kim stood over approach shots with the kind of calm that usually belongs to major champions. Mid-irons. Long irons. It didn’t matter. The ball kept flying at flags, and more importantly, it kept staying out of trouble.

He never made the tournament feel dramatic because he never gave anyone an opening.

That’s harder than it sounds.

The Renaissance Club Keeps Delivering

Every July, the Genesis Scottish Open reminds us why it’s become one of the best events on the golf calendar. Sure, the Renaissance Club isn’t the best golf course in its own Scottish zip code, but it’s still a top GB&I track. And it’s the course—and more importantly, the tourney—that is the final stop before The Open Championship.

The Renaissance Club has carved out its own identity by rewarding imagination instead of brute force. Players are constantly forced to make decisions. Fly it high? Keep it low? Challenge a bunker? Play away from trouble? On links golf courses, there usually isn’t one correct answer. Grip and rip isn’t always the best choice. Especially if the benefit of length off the tee is nullified by your ball ending up in a deep-faced bunker that forces you to play out sideways towards another deep-faced bunker.

That’s what makes Scottish, Irish, and English courses so much fun to watch and play. Sure, in the US there are similar-style courses, like the ones you’ll see and play at Bandon Dunes in Southern Oregon, but in GB&I links courses pop up in every town that pours Guinness.

Last week, the weather, naturally, decided to become part of the story.

Fog rolled across the property and delayed play, leaving players waiting for Mother Nature to decide when the tournament could resume. If you’ve ever spent time in Scotland, you know the weather isn’t a bug—it’s a feature.

Fortunately, the delay didn’t cool off Tom Kim.

When play resumed, he looked like someone who had already solved the golf course.

Fairway. Green. Birdie chance. Repeat.

It wasn’t flashy. It was clinical.

Some victories are remembered because the winner pulled off something spectacular over the closing holes. This one will be remembered because Kim never gave the field a reason to believe he might stumble.

Sometimes boring golf is beautiful golf.

Min Woo Lee Is Becoming Top Chef Appointment Television

If Tom Kim was the story of the week, Min Woo Lee was lurking.

He is quietly putting together a nice season. And we are picking him as a sleeper to lift the Claret Jug on Sunday. ,

His combination of length, creativity, and confidence is unlike almost anyone else on the PGA TOUR. And he’s got the thin stache reminiscent of a young 1880s Western gunslinger.

He’s aggressive without being reckless.

Confident without being arrogant.

And perhaps most importantly, he never looks intimidated.

Lee kept applying pressure throughout the final round, refusing to let Kim cruise comfortably to the finish. Had a couple more putts found the bottom of the cup, we might be talking about a completely different champion. Instead, he heads to the Open Championship with another runner-up finish, another outstanding week and even more evidence that his ceiling remains incredibly high. He ended up pocketing just under $1 million in the Scottish Open. That’ll buy plenty of Guinnesses if that’s his jam.

Golf is more fun when Min Woo Lee is on the first page of the leaderboard. We’ve already laid a prop we’ll see his name right there this week.

Robert MacIntyre Continues to Shine at Home

You could almost feel the galleries pulling for Robert MacIntyre every time he stepped onto the golf course.

The Scotsman once again proved he’s one of the game’s best links players, navigating The Renaissance Club with the patience and creativity that these conditions demand.

MacIntyre never seemed rattled.

When the wind picked up, he adjusted. When approach shots required imagination instead of perfection, he delivered. There wasn’t much drama to his week, other than a scorecard burp early in his round Sunday–and that’s exactly the point.

He simply played really, really good golf and banked $431,888 for his efforts.

That’s becoming a habit whenever the PGA TOUR crosses the Atlantic.

Scottie Scheffler Finally Looked Human

Here’s a sentence we haven’t typed in 4 years: Scottie Scheffler missed the cut.

After dominating the golf world for much of the past year, the World No. 1 packed his bags early and watched the weekend from the sidelines.

Should anyone overreact?

Absolutely not.

Every player—even Scottie Scheffler, the best player on the planet—is allowed an off week. Besides, maybe Scheffler just wanted another stroll around North Berwick, the course, and then the charming city. There are certainly worse consolation prizes than spending an afternoon wandering one of golf’s greatest cathedrals.

Still, seeing Scheffler disappear before the weekend felt strange. He’s become so consistently brilliant that missing a cut almost qualifies as a news event. Even superheroes occasionally forget where they left the cape.

Fortunately for Scottie, this one came in a tournament where the only lasting damage might be to his pride.

Viktor Hovland Might Be Flying Under the Radar…Again

Lost in all the attention surrounding Tom Kim’s victory was a Sunday charge that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Viktor Hovland quietly went out and posted one of the best rounds of the day—a brilliant 6-under 64—to climb into a tie for 13th, good enough to win $153,450.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Hovland, is heating up. Right about the time for him to win his major championship at Birkdale.

He’s one of the purest ball strikers in the game, and when the putter starts cooperating, he has the ability to beat anyone in the world. Sunday’s finish felt like another reminder that his game is trending in the right direction.

Norway already has superstar soccer savant Erling Haaland, who scores goals with a boyish smile. He had one helluva run at the World Cup over the past few weeks.

Don’t be surprised if Viktor bags his own brace Sunday. (Note: A brace is when a soccer player scores two goals in a single match. Hovland’s fellow Norwegian, Erling Haaland, makes this a habit playing for club and country. And if Viktor wins the Open Championship this week, he will have captured his brace, after winning the Travelers Championship just a few weeks ago.)

Tyrrell Hatton Is Right Where He Wants to Be

Sometimes the best tournaments are the quiet ones.

Tyrrell Hatton didn’t spend the week grabbing headlines or arguing with his golf ball—a welcome change by Tyrrell Hatton standards—but he pieced together another solid performance, finishing tied for 17th, good enough for a $123,750 check from the PGA TOUR. That amount will confidently be deposited, unlike the checks he’ll be winning on LIV from now until the end of its demise.

His game looks sharp. His confidence appears to be simmering. And perhaps most impressively, there were fewer animated conversations with his golf clubs than we’re accustomed to seeing.

Hatton has always embraced links golf. He understands the creativity it demands, and he never seems intimidated when conditions get difficult.

Steady doesn’t always make highlights, but it does win professional golf tournaments.

Don’t rest on Tyrrell this week. He’s English. And Birkdale just happens to be located within driving distance of where the Mad Hatter picked up the game as a kid.

This Week’s Højgaard Trophy Goes to Nicolai

The unofficial Højgaard Cup goes to Nicolai.

The Danish twins once again found themselves on the same leaderboard, with Nicolai finishing tied for 26th, two shots clear of Rasmus in a tie for 36th.

Professional golf can be lonely. Unless, of course, your biggest competition occasionally shares your last name.

The difference in prize money won’t change anyone’s life.

Family bragging rights? Those last forever.

Justin Thomas Is Still Searching for Sunday Magic

Every few weeks, Justin Thomas gives us a glimpse.

A great round.

A stretch of birdies.

A reminder of why he’s one of the most gifted players of his generation.

Then something happens.

This week it was a disappointing final-round 73 that knocked him out of what could have been a much more satisfying finish. Thomas has shown enough flashes over the past year to convince everyone that another victory is coming. The problem is the flashes haven’t turned into four complete rounds.

A few years ago, seeing Justin Thomas finish outside the top 10 felt unusual. Now it feels like we’re still waiting for him to put all the pieces back together.

Golf is simply more entertaining when Justin Thomas is charging up the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon instead of boarding an early flight home—or, in the case of yesterday, likely boarding a private jet and heading to the closest airport to Birkdale. We are guessing that Thomas’s $31,455 take-home just barely covered his costs for the weeklong stay & play in North Berwick.

Sahith Theegala Is Golf’s Best Reality Show

There are players you watch because they’re dominant. Then there are players you watch because absolutely anything might happen. The latter tends to wear their heart on their sleeve, and we love watching that level of talent mixed with outwardly emotional drama.

Sahith Theegala is the antithesis of Scottie Scheffler. But at least he won money on tour this week. $19,710 to be exact.

He plays golf with the kind of imagination that reminds us of a young Jordan Spieth. Recovery shots become opportunities. Impossible lines suddenly look reasonable. Birdies appear from places they probably shouldn’t.

It’s exhilarating. It’s occasionally maddening. And it’s impossible to ignore. Sometimes chaos turns into victory, like it did forSahith at the 2023 Fortinet Championship.

The difference, of course, is that Spieth turned those magical moments into major championships. That’s the piece still missing for Theegala.

He’s one of the easiest players on TOUR to root for because he never looks afraid to fail. We just wish we got to see him on television every Sunday instead of every fourth or fifth week.

The talent is there. The consistency is the next step.

Winners & Losers from Sunday at the Scottish Open

Winners

Tom Kim — Welcome back. A 1,001-day drought is officially over, and the version of Tom Kim we saw in Scotland looked every bit like the fearless young star who burst onto the PGA TOUR. If TGL really helped restore his confidence, simulator golf just got one heck of an endorsement.

Rory — Scottie’s bad week sent him packing. Rory’s bad week was salvaged with a solid 64 on Sunday. Look at Birkdale. Rory is headed your way with confidence we didn’t see coming until the scores posted yesterday.

Francesco Molinari — The Italian, who at one point in his career was a trending top 10 player in the world, having conquered Tiger Woods and the Open Championship, has struggled the past handful of years on both the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. This week he posted four rounds in the 60s and could be a Top 25 sleeper at Birkdale.  

Scottish Links Golf — Firm fairways. Creative shot-making. Wind, fog, and just enough unpredictability to keep everyone honest. This is why we love watching golf played by the sea.

Losers

Streaks — Scottie Scheffler hadn’t missed a cut since 2022, and Tom Kim hadn’t won a tourney since 2023. Both of those streaks were broken last week. We’re guessing that Tom was more excited about his steak coming to an end.

Justin Thomas  — Another week of average. The pieces are there. They’re just not fitting together for four rounds.

The guy named Guido – Guido Migliozzi limped in with a 75 on Sunday and dropped 27 spots on the leaderboard. And “Guido” remains on his driver’s license thanks to his parents.  

Genesis Scottish Open 2026 prize money payouts