Former Cal golfer Michael Kim sank a 24-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on Friday in Laine, Minnesota, to become the to become the 15th person to score a 59 in the history of the PGA Tour.
That is one stroke off the single-round PGA Tour record of 58, which Jim Furyk shot at the 2016 Travelers Championship.
Kim recorded birdies on his last four holes and did have any bogeys in his second round of the 3M Open on the TPC Twin Cities. That 12-under-par round got him to 14-under for the tournament. That gives him a three-stroke lead on the field heading into Saturday’s third round.
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“Today was an awesome day, but still, I’m only halfway there so still need to kind of get focused up for the weekend,” said Kim.
Kim attended Cal from 2011 to December of 2013. He played on the Bears golf team for two and half season before turning pro during his junior year. He was Cal’s first national men’s golf player of the year, accomplishing that in 2012-13.
Kim was a Cal teammate of Max Homa, who was at Cal from 2009 to 2013, and Homa and Kim played for a Cal team that was ranked No. 1 in the country in 2013 at the end of the regular season.
Homa did have much success at the 3M Open though. He shots a 3-over-par 74 on Friday, and he missed the cut after shooting 4-over for the first two rounds.
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The day belonged to Kim, who became the fourth golfer since 2024 to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour. The last to accomplish that feat was Jake Knapp, who did it at the 2025 Cognizant Classic.
Kim recorded birdies on Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 on the front nine, then added birdies on 10, 12, 15, 16, and 17 to set up his chance for the 59 on the 18th.
“I just kind of told myself like, ‘Hey, this is the way, 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,'” he said.
On the 18th he faced an uphill putt from the fringe of the green for his chance at a birdie.
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“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,” said Kim.
Kim raised his hands and did a fist pump when the putt rolled in. His previous low round on the tour was a 62.
“When you hit a putt and it does exactly what you kind of envisioned before you hit it, it’s an awesome feeling,” Kim said. “Felt like that all day out there.”
Kim is shooting for his second tour win, having won the 2018 John Deere Classic.
Kim had played in tournaments the previous five weeks and he considered not playing the 3M Open.
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“I went home after I missed the cut at the Open, just spent a couple days relaxing and came up here and really happy I did,” he said.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/cal as Ex-Cal Golfer Michael Kim Shoots a 59 at PGA Event.
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