Tom Kim Wins the Scottish Open, and Royal Birkdale Just Got One More Real Problem

Image: Birdie Report

Tom Kim did not just win a big one in Scotland.

He showed up one week before The Open Championship and reminded everybody he can still make a very serious mess of a major leaderboard.

According to Associated Press reporting published Sunday, July 12, 2026, Kim closed the Genesis Scottish Open with a bogey-free 6-under 64 to win by two shots over Min Woo Lee at The Renaissance Club. AP also reported that Johnny Keefer tied for third, Michael Thorbjornsen tied for seventh, and those two joined Victor Perez in earning the event’s three Royal Birkdale spots for the leading non-exempt finishers.

That is a proper Sunday haul.

This piece is based on AP’s July 12, 2026 final-round report and The Open’s official qualification tracker, both checked on July 13, 2026. No pretending I was walking inside the ropes in North Berwick while also live-updating the Birkdale reserve math from a second phone.

For the full run-up first, start with our Round 1 Scottish Open story, the 36-hole update with Rory, Tom Kim, and Jordan Smith, and the fog-delay Sunday setup piece.

Kim Finally Turned the Quiet Build Into a Trophy

The useful part of this result is not only that Kim won.

It is how he did it.

AP said he played the final round without a bogey and delivered the clinching blow with a shot from 203 yards to 6 feet on the par-4 16th, which gave him the two-shot cushion he needed. The report also said this was his first PGA Tour title since the fall of 2023, after spending much of this season outside the top 100 in the world before the recent turnaround.

That lines up with what the last month has looked like.

He was already starting to look more dangerous at Shinnecock, where he finished third at the U.S. Open. Then he stayed near the top of the board all week in Scotland. Sunday was just the part where the form stopped being theoretical.

Min Woo Lee Pushed Him, but Kim Landed the Cleaner Finish

This was not a runaway.

AP reported that Min Woo Lee shot 67 and stood in the 18th fairway knowing he would need to hole out to force a playoff after Kim safely found the green and made par for the win. That is a real chase, not decorative pressure.

Behind them, AP said Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre, Keita Nakajima, and Johnny Keefer all tied for third, while Rory McIlroy and Michael Thorbjornsen finished in a tie for seventh after McIlroy posted a closing 64.

That makes the final board better, not messier.

You got:

• Kim winning with a no-drama scorecard
• Lee making him keep pushing
• McIlroy at least rescuing the week after the ugly third round
• and a bunch of non-exempt names still fighting for Royal Birkdale

That is exactly what this event is supposed to be one week before The Open.

The Birkdale Spots Went to the Right Kind of Fringe Names

The winner is the headline.

The qualification layer still matters.

The Open’s official qualification tracker, checked July 13, says the three Scottish Open spots into Royal Birkdale went to Johnny Keefer, Michael Thorbjornsen, and Victor Perez.

That is a healthy trio.

Keefer got there with the tie for third AP highlighted Sunday. Thorbjornsen survived the ugly marathon-weekend logistics and still finished tied seventh. Perez did not need a top-five headline to get the job done; he just needed to finish high enough among the non-exempt players, and the official tracker says he did.

For The Open, that is better than a bunch of filler names floating in through paperwork. We already covered the broader field build in our Royal Birkdale final-qualifying story and the Max Homa qualification-chaos column. This just adds another three players who actually had to play their way through something.

McIlroy Leaves With a Better Number and the Same Questions

AP said McIlroy got within one shot of the lead early in the final round by shooting 30 on the front nine before eventually finishing tied seventh. The same report quoted him saying he still needs to do “a bit of work” before next Thursday to feel fully comfortable with his game.

That feels about right.

The final-round 64 is useful. It does not erase the weirdness from Saturday.

So the main Royal Birkdale takeaway is not “Rory is fixed.” It is more like:

• he did enough Sunday to stop the week from feeling lousy
• Kim looks like the sharper current mover
• and the Open still arrives with a lot more uncertainty than it had a few days ago

That is better for everyone except the people trying to script this thing too early.

Bottom Line

Tom Kim won the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open with a bogey-free 64, beating Min Woo Lee by two shots and claiming his first PGA Tour title since 2023, according to AP’s July 12 report.

The other useful Sunday development came from the official Open qualification math: Johnny Keefer, Michael Thorbjornsen, and Victor Perez secured the final Scottish Open spots into Royal Birkdale.

That gives The Open Championship exactly what it should want one week out:

• a hot winner
• a few fresh qualifiers
• and one more reason the favorite list should feel unstable