19-year-old Kim Joo-hyung finishes 23rd at U.S. Open

Kim Joo-hyung waits for a turkey to move before playing his approach on the tenth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts on Thursday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Nineteen-year-old Kim Joo-hyung, the youngest player of the Korean contingent at the U.S. Open finished 23rd at the PGA major on Sunday.

Kim carded a three-over, 283, over all four rounds at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts on Sunday, to take a solo 23rd place, finishing one shot behind the nine golfers that shared 14th place.

With renovations and rerouting of the Country Club at Brookline, the course was played as a par 70 measuring up to 7,264 yards.

After carding two-over, 72, in the first round, Kim tied for 10th in the second round with two-under, 68. He struggled a bit more on Saturday with three-over, 73, but ended the weekend on par to take the No. 23 spot.

Kim currently plays predominantly on the Asian Tour, where he has picked up two wins at the Panasonic Open India and the 2022 Singapore International. He also has two KPGA Tour titles to his name, winning the 2020 KPGA Gunsan CC Open and the 2021 SK Telecom Open. As an amateur, Kim won the 2017 Philippine Junior and the 2018 Philippine Amateur Open Championship.

Kim earned his spot at the U.S. Open after topping the Order of Merit for the 2020/21 Asian Tour with $507,553. The U.S. Open grants an exemption to the money leader from the previous year's Asian Tour, or the highest person on the money ranking who has not already earned an exemption.

Kim also competed at the 2022 PGA Championship, but failed to make the cut. Kim previously appeared at the PGA Championship in 2020, also missing the cut.

Finishing in 23rd place pushed Kim's Official World Golf Ranking up to No. 58, one spot behind countryman Kim Si-woo. Im Sung-jae is the highest ranked Korean, at No. 21, with Lee Kyoung-hoon coming in at No. 43. No other Korean golfers rank within the top 100.

With the United States Golf Association handing out a record $17.5 million in prize money at this year's U.S. Open, Kim takes home $171,732 for his 23rd-place finish.

The U.S. Open was won by Matt Fitzpatrick of England with a six-under, 274. Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris, both of the United States, tied for second with five-under, 275. The win earns Fitzpatrick $3.15 million, with Scheffler and Zalatoris each taking $1.56 million.

No Korean has ever won the U.S. Open, the best-ever result being Yang Yong-eun’s tied third finish in 2011. Last year, Im finished at a tied 35th position.

A total of four Korean golfers competed at the 2022 tournament. After Kim, Lee was the next-best finisher, tying for 37th with a seven-over, 287. Im and Kim Si-woo both missed the cut.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]