Tom Kim has withdrawn from his first-ever PGA Tour title defense.
With a Grade 1 tear in his right ankle, the 21-year-old South Korean will miss next week’s Wyndham Championship, the tournament announced.
Last year, Kim fired a final-round 61 at Sedgefield Country Club en route to becoming the second-youngest Tour winner since World War II. His win in the Tour’s regular-season finale also made him eligible for the FedExCup playoffs, as he was playing most of the season on special temporary status.
“I am very gutted to not be able to defend my first PGA Tour win,” Kim said. “I am still having a hard time with my ankle, so I am getting the treatment I need to heal completely.”
Kim suffered the injury by stepping wrong off his patio after Round 1 of last week’s Open Championship. However, he managed to gut out a T-2 finish, becoming the youngest runner-up at The Open since Seve Ballesteros in 1976.
“I was thinking about pulling out my second round and the third round,” Kim said Sunday at Royal Liverpool. “But I’m kind of glad I didn’t. Stuck to it.”
Following his best-ever finish in a major, Kim, the world No. 17, sits comfortably in the FedExCup standings at 14th. Therefore, he can rest up before the playoffs start in two weeks at TPC Southwind as he looks to claim the Tour’s season-long title and $18 million.
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