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Tom Kim teams up with Jeeno Thitikul for 2nd place at Grant Thornton

Published: 16 Dec. 2024, 15:40 Updated: 16 Dec. 2024, 17:44

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Tom Kim, left, walks with Jeeno Thitikul during the final round of the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida on Dec. 15. [AFP/YONHAP]

PGA star Tom Kim and LPGA golfer Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand teamed up to finish as runners-up at the Grant Thornton Invitational after producing a 26-under-par, 190, at Tiburon Golf Club in Florida on Sunday.

The Grant Thornton Invitational is a competition in which mixed teams consisting of PGA and LPGA contenders compete over three rounds of 18 holes of scramble, 18 holes of foursomes and 18 holes of modified four-ball.

Jake Knapp of the United States and Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand clinched victory after hitting one stroke fewer than the Kim-Thitikul pair.

Defending champion pair Jason Day of Australia and Lydia Ko of New Zealand landed in sole sixth with a 20-under-par, 196.

For Kim, it marked another runner-up finish on the Tour this season after his first at the Travelers Championship in June, where he lost a playoff to Scottie Scheffler, and second at the Hero World Challenge earlier this month.

Three-time PGA winner Kim did not add a title this season, but still enjoyed a successful season on the Tour with three top-10 finishes, in addition to another runner-up finish at the Genesis Championship — co-sanctioned by the KPGA and DP World Tour — in October. Fellow PGA contender An Byeong-hun claimed the Genesis Championship title.

Thitikul also continued her successful run this year after winning two titles on the 2024 LPGA Tour, where she made the top-10 finishes 12 times across 17 competitions.

Kim can now catch a break until the 2025 PGA season unfolds in January next year after a long 2024 season during which he also represented Korea at the Paris Olympics and finished in eighth place and missed a chance to win a military service exemption.

No Korean golfer clinched a victory on the 2024 PGA Tour that was dominated by Scheffler, who claimed seven titles this campaign.

The 2025 PGA campaign will tee off with the Sentry on Jan. 2.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]