Kim Ju-hyung wins Scottish Open, reflects on 33-month winless drought

Kim Ju-hyung, winner of the PGA Tour Genesis Scottish Open, reflected with quiet maturity on the 33 months he spent without a victory.

At the post-ceremony winner's press conference Monday, Kim opened with a joke: "It had been so long since I lifted a winner's trophy that I had forgotten how heavy it was." But when asked what emotions drove his tears after the win was confirmed, he turned more candid. "If I didn't have all these media interviews and photo sessions, I probably would have gone to my room and cried for a few hours," he said, hinting at how much the long drought had weighed on him.

Kim closed out the final round at Renaissance Club (par 70) in North Berwick, Scotland, carding six birdies against no bogeys to finish at 17 under par, 263 strokes total, and claim the title. The victory — his fourth on the PGA Tour — ended a winless run of two years and nine months and earned him a first-place check of 1.2 million pounds (about 2.4 billion won).

"There was a very long stretch where things were difficult. I kept thinking back to the times when my game just wouldn't come together, and those moments were really hard. Golf is a sport where you can never guarantee you'll keep playing well. I learned it's a sport of ups and downs," he said, recalling his slump.

"If anything, I feel more deeply grateful for this moment now than I would have a few years ago. I thought of my family and the people who stayed by my side — those who endured the hard times with me and shared in the joy. Thinking of them made me cry," he said.

The tournament holds special meaning for Kim. A third-place finish here in 2022 earned him a spot in The Open Championship, and his runner-up finish at The Open the following year secured him a direct PGA Tour card.

"Everything started here. Strangely, this is a tournament I always wanted to come back to," he said. "On Monday, I was finally able to finish it off with a win, and winning at a tournament like this is truly special."

Throughout the week, Kim repeatedly used the word "patience" to describe his mindset, saying he had learned it was essential not just in golf but in life. "No matter how well you do, things may not go the way you want. On the other hand, they can go better than expected. Ultimately, you have to learn to accept that. That's maturity — something you learn over time," he said.

He used links-style courses like this week's venue as an illustration. "You can hit a perfect drive and still get a bad bounce into a bunker. And once you're in a bunker, you might catch the lip or find a deep lie. Luck plays a big role. So you have to accept the result, good or bad, and keep moving forward. That's links golf," he said.

Asked about the challenge of rising quickly on the PGA Tour only to fall into a long slump, Kim said his outlook had shifted. "When I won for the first time, I thought I was being rewarded for all the hard work I had put in," he said. "But now I think about it a little differently. Even if two players both practice 10 hours a day, one might win and the other might not."

"As I've gotten older, I've come to understand more deeply how precious these moments are. It's different from simply thinking, 'I won,'" he said.

Learning patience, he said, has helped him shed anxiety and restlessness. "I'm 24 now, in my fifth season on tour, and it's been almost 10 years since I turned professional. In many ways I'm getting older and more mature — and because of that, I actually feel like my journey is only just beginning," he said.

Kim, who built a close friendship with Tiger Woods after joining his team in TGL, said Woods was the first person he texted after the win. "It shows what kind of person Tiger is and how much he thinks about others," Kim said.

His attention now turns to The Open Championship, which tees off Thursday. Kim said he plans to keep the celebration brief. "Monday night I'll enjoy it fully. I'll rest as well as I can, and from Thursday I'll approach it as the start of a brand-new week," he said.