Michael Kim celebrated his 25th birthday a day late as he stayed clear of the field to secure his first PGA Tour victory by eight shots at the John Deere Classic - securing the final place at this week’s British Open in the process.
The American cruised to victory with a 66 in Sunday’s final round to go with scores of 63, 64 and 64, in the process setting a new record of 27 under par for the tournament at TPC Deere Run in Illinois.
Séamus Power meanwhile rounded off a solid week with a two under par round of 69 leaving him on 14 under par for the tournament and in a share of 16th place.
Kim carried a five-shot lead into day four and having birdied five of the last six holes on a rain-interrupted Saturday, did the same at the first three on Sunday before adding a fourth at the eighth to go out in 31.
A run of seven successive pars around the turn ended with a birdie two at the 16th, and two further pars saw him home in some comfort.
Italy’s Francesco Molinari was among his closest challengers as he carded a seven under 64 to finish in a tie for second at 19 under with Joel Dahmen, Sam Ryder and Kim’s playing partner Bronson Burgoon.
Burgoon teed off at the final hole needing a birdie to claim second in his own right, but having found a green-side bunker with his second shot, played out to within inches to ensure his share of the spoils with a 69.
Collated final scores & totals in the USPGA Tour John Deere Classic (USA unless stated, par 71):
257 Michael Kim 63 64 64 66
265 Joel Dahmen 64 71 65 65, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 65 66 70 64, Sam Ryder 66 66 67 66, Bronson Burgoon 68 62 66 69
266 Harold Varner III 67 65 66 68
268 Chad Campbell 66 70 66 66, Andres Romero (Arg) 64 71 64 69, Keith Mitchell 67 68 66 67, John Huh 70 63 69 66, Kevin Streelman 66 71 66 65
269 Scott Brown 65 72 65 67, Matt Jones (Aus) 68 63 66 72, Tyler Duncan 66 72 63 68, Steve Wheatcroft 62 68 71 68
270 Whee Kim (Kor) 65 68 70 67, Zach Johnson 69 70 67 64, David Hearn (Can) 66 64 70 70, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 72 65 68 65, Johnson Wagner 64 66 70 70, Parker McLachlin 66 66 70 68, Seamus Power (Irl) 68 68 65 69
271 Richy Werenski 68 69 67 67, Derek Fathauer 68 67 68 68, Chris Kirk 66 72 66 67, John Merrick 66 70 70 65, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 69 69 68 65, Dominic Bozzelli 70 65 71 65, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 66 70 67 68
272 Chris Stroud 68 68 67 69, Robert Garrigus 68 64 68 72, Patton Kizzire 70 69 66 67, Jason Bohn 69 66 68 69
273 Vaughn Taylor 67 70 68 68, Austin Cook 69 69 66 69, John Senden (Aus) 72 66 67 68, Cody Gribble 72 66 65 70, Hunter Mahan 70 67 69 67, J.J. Henry 68 66 69 70, Denny McCarthy 65 69 66 73, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 68 71 66 68, Nick Taylor (Can) 64 71 68 70
274 Ricky Barnes 70 69 67 68, Steve Stricker 70 66 71 67, Nick Hardy 66 73 69 66, Patrick Rodgers 66 69 71 68, Dylan Meyer 68 68 72 66, Blayne Barber 69 69 68 68, Troy Merritt 72 67 68 67
275 Tom Lovelady 70 69 70 66, Hudson Swafford 68 69 72 66, Kevin Tway 69 69 71 66, Corey Conners (Can) 66 72 69 68, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 67 70 71 67
276 Matt Atkins 66 71 67 72, Andrew Landry 71 68 67 70, Ryan Blaum 67 69 72 68, Ryan Moore 70 69 70 67, Conrad Shindler 67 72 70 67
277 Nick Watney 68 69 71 69, Sam Saunders 72 67 67 71, Lanto Griffin 66 72 69 70
278 Kelly Kraft 66 71 71 70, Mark Wilson 71 67 71 69
280 JT Poston 69 70 68 73, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 69 70 70 71, Benjamin Silverman (Can) 72 67 70 71, Brett Stegmaier 67 71 70 72
281 Tommy Gainey 70 68 69 74, Nicholas Lindheim 68 70 71 72
282 Kris Blanks 71 67 71 73
