Quick Answer: Tom Kim is 24, married to Lee Seo-yeon, and a four-time PGA Tour winner. He went 4-1-0 at the 2026 Presidents Cup, then traveled to Japan for the Asian Games. A gold medal in the men’s individual or team event would earn him an exemption from South Korea’s mandatory military service. The PGA Tour lists his career official earnings at $21,672,574 and his current world ranking at No. 31.
Eighteen months ago, Tom Kim’s name showed up in golf headlines for a smashed locker room door and a shouting match at the Presidents Cup. He’d fallen to 141st in the world. He’d missed the Masters for the first time since he was a teenager.
Then, in July 2026, he closed the Genesis Scottish Open with a bogey-free 64 and cried on the 18th green.
A lot changed for Tom Kim in the past year — his coach, his putter, his marital status, his world ranking. Most pages about him haven’t caught up. We pulled together every current number on his age, his wife, his military-service timeline and exactly what happened to derail, and then rescue, his career.
Tom Kim at a Glance
| Category | Detail | As Of |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kim Joo-hyung (goes by “Tom”) | — |
| Age | 24 | Aug 2026 |
| Birthday | June 21, 2002 | — |
| Birthplace | Seoul, South Korea | — |
| Height | 6’0″ (183 cm) | — |
| Residence | Dallas, Texas | Aug 2026 |
| Turned pro | 2018, age 15 | — |
| College | None | — |
| PGA Tour wins | 4 | Jul 2026 |
| Total pro wins | 13 | Jul 2026 |
| Career PGA Tour earnings | $21,672,574 in official money | Aug 2026 |
| Current OWGR | No. 31 | Aug 2026 |
| Marital status | Married to Lee Seo-yeon (private, late 2025) | Aug 2026 |
| Coach | Sean Foley (since Feb 2026) | Aug 2026 |
Table last verified October 2026 — we’ll update it as his ranking and results change.
How Old Is Tom Kim? His Age, Birthday and Background
Tom Kim turned 24 on June 21, 2026. He was born Kim Joo-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, the son of Kim Chang-ik, a club pro who once played on the old Buy.com Tour before moving into teaching.
His father’s job moved the family constantly. Kim grew up between Australia, the Philippines and Thailand, and picked up English and Tagalog on top of his native Korean along the way. That’s not a résumé filler line — it’s why he’s comfortable doing pro-am small talk in three languages and why he calls Dallas, not Seoul, his home base today.
He never played college golf. Kim turned professional in 2018 at 15 years old, years before most of his peers were choosing a university team. By 17, he’d already won the Panasonic Open India on the Asian Tour, one of the youngest players ever to do it at that point.
Skipping college is unusual even by pro golf standards, and it’s worth saying plainly: that path only works if you’re genuinely ready, and most 15-year-olds aren’t. Kim was the exception, not the rule.
What Happened to Tom Kim? Inside the Three-Year Slump
What happened with Tom Kim? After winning three times before turning 21, Kim went almost three years without a PGA Tour win. Putting issues, an illness, and a form collapse dropped him from an OWGR career high of 11th to outside the top 140 by early 2026, costing him a Masters invite.
His off-course reputation took hits too. He damaged a locker room door after a playoff loss at the 2024 Genesis Championship in South Korea, and he drew criticism for pace-of-play and gamesmanship flare-ups during the 2024 Presidents Cup. He apologized publicly both times.
None of that is the full story, though. By May 2026, sitting 141st in the world and playing his way into a U.S. Open spot through local qualifying in his adopted hometown of Dallas, Kim looked like a cautionary tale about teenage stardom. He said as much himself — golf, at that level, doesn’t forgive a three-year gap easily.
The Turnaround: New Coach, New Putter and a Wedding Ring
Here’s the part the stat pages miss entirely: three things changed for Kim within about five months of each other, and all three mattered.
In February 2026, Kim started working with Sean Foley. Foley coached Tiger Woods from 2010 to 2014, a stretch that included Woods returning to world No. 1 and winning five PGA Tour events in 2013.
Then came the U.S. Open in June. Kim qualified through a 36-hole local qualifier and turned it into a tie for third at Shinnecock Hills — his best major finish since 2023.
Five weeks later, he won the Genesis Scottish Open outright: a bogey-free final-round 64, 17-under total, two shots clear of Min Woo Lee. It was his fourth PGA Tour title and his first since the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open. Sharp-eyed equipment watchers noticed something else that week — Kim had swapped putters just before the win, trading a Scotty Cameron TTG88 prototype for a Scotty Cameron Timeless GSS Tour prototype.
We’d bet that putter change matters more to his week-to-week scoring than any swing tweak Foley made. Putting problems were the specific thing that sank his 2024 and 2025 seasons, and a fresh flat stick right before a win isn’t a coincidence worth ignoring.
Off the course, Kim was working through something bigger. He married Lee Seo-yeon privately in late 2025, and he’s credited the stability directly: “I feel more at ease and more responsible after getting married,” he said. Whatever the exact mechanism, a player who’d missed two majors in April tied for third in a major and won on Tour by July.
Is Tom Kim Married? Meet His Wife, Lee Seo-yeon
Is Tom Kim married? Yes. Tom Kim married Lee Seo-yeon in late 2025, in a private ceremony that stayed out of the golf press until Korea JoongAng Daily broke the story in mid-2026.
The two met in Dallas in 2024, where Seo-yeon and her family were spending a sabbatical year and Kim already had his home base. They connected through regular Bible study meetings, not through golf at all.
Seo-yeon grew up almost as nomadically as Kim did. Her missionary parents raised her across Mongolia and Indonesia before she went on to a double major at Smith College in the United States. “I was attracted to her because her life experiences are similar to mine,” Kim told Korea JoongAng Daily. He’s also said the two of them lean on each other precisely because their childhoods looked so similar.
The couple has kept a low public profile since. Seo-yeon was still a student when they married, and by all accounts that privacy was deliberate — a notable choice for a player who built his early fame on being one of the Tour’s most visible personalities.
Does Tom Kim Have to Serve in the Military?
Tom Kim still faces South Korea’s military-service requirement unless he earns an athletic exemption. His immediate opportunity is the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
Kim left the Presidents Cup on September 27 and joined South Korea’s golf team for the men’s competition, which begins September 30 at Kasugai Country Club. A gold medal in either the men’s individual event or the team event would qualify him for the athlete exemption.
Kim came close to an Olympic exemption in Paris in 2024, where he finished fourth. If he does not earn Asian Games gold, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics remains another possible route because an Olympic medal can also qualify.
The key change is timing. The Asian Games are no longer a distant possibility on his schedule. They are his next competition, and the result could have consequences far beyond his world ranking.
Are Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim Still Friends?
Are Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim still friends? Yes — by most accounts, they’re close. Scheffler beat Kim in a playoff at the 2024 Travelers Championship, but reports from Kim’s 2026 Scottish Open week describe the two as close, frequent practice partners, including a joint double date during that same week.
The relationship has always looked more like sparring partners than rivals with an edge — Scheffler the dominant world No. 1, Kim the International Team’s emotional center. On-course jabs included.
Tom Kim’s PGA Tour Wins and Career Highlights
Tom Kim has four PGA Tour wins and 13 professional wins worldwide as of August 2026:
- 2022 Wyndham Championship: Kim won at 20 years, 1 month and 17 days old, making him the second-youngest PGA Tour winner since World War II. Only Jordan Spieth was younger.
- 2022 Shriners Children’s Open: His second PGA Tour victory made him the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice on Tour before turning 21.
- 2023 Shriners Children’s Open: Kim successfully defended the title for his third PGA Tour victory, becoming the youngest player since Tiger Woods to reach three Tour wins.
His major resume includes a tie for second at the 2023 Open Championship, a tie for eighth at the 2023 U.S. Open, a tie for 16th at the 2023 Masters and a tie for third at the 2026 U.S. Open.
Kim has now played three Presidents Cups, in 2022, 2024 and 2026. At Medinah in 2026, he went 4-1-0 and earned four points for the International Team. He beat Wyndham Clark 3 and 2 in Sunday singles, although the United States rallied to win the Cup 17-13.
Then there’s the moment that has nothing to do with the PGA Tour at all. In March 2026, playing in TGL’s simulator golf league for Tiger Woods’ team, Jupiter Links, Kim holed a 138-yard tee shot for an ace on the 14th hole to help beat The Bay and send Jupiter Links to the playoffs. Woods, his captain, lost his composure on the sideline. It’s a genuine hole-in-one — it just won’t show up in his official PGA Tour stats.
Is Tom Kim Playing in the 2026 Masters?
Is Tom Kim playing in the Masters? No. Tom Kim missed the 2026 Masters, his first absence from the tournament since his 2023 debut, after his ranking fell outside qualifying range during his slump. His Scottish Open win, though, locked in his return: a win inside the qualifying window secures a spot in the 2027 Masters and the 2027 PGA Championship.
Tom Kim’s RBC Canadian Open History
Tom Kim’s best finish at the RBC Canadian Open remains a tie for fourth in 2024, when he closed with a 64 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. He missed the cut there in 2025.
In 2026, at TPC Toronto’s Osprey Valley North Course, he finished tied for 15th at 10-under, earning $159,250 — a solid week, if not a return to that 2024 form. The event has never been a signature result for Kim, but it’s a reliable checkpoint for tracking where his game stands each June, right between the U.S. Open and the Open Championship on the calendar.
What’s in Tom Kim’s Bag? His 2026 WITB
Kim plays a Titleist-heavy setup, and it barely changed between his June 2026 bag and the one he used to win the Scottish Open in July, with one notable exception.
The swap that mattered: between June and his Scottish Open win, Kim switched from a Scotty Cameron TTG88 prototype putter to a Scotty Cameron Timeless GSS Tour prototype. Everything else in the bag stayed nearly identical, right down to the Golf Pride MCC Align grips, which tells you the putter, not the ball-striking gear, was the real equipment story of his comeback.
Tom Kim’s Net Worth and Career Earnings
Tom Kim does not publish a verified net-worth figure, so any exact number you see online is an estimate. The more useful number is his official PGA Tour earnings. The Tour currently lists $21,672,574 in career official money, including $5,352,960 during the 2026 season.
That figure does not include private endorsement income, appearance fees, taxes, expenses or investment results. Kim has commercial partnerships, but the value of those deals is not public. If a website states that his net worth is exactly $10 million, $12 million or another precise figure, treat it as an outside estimate rather than an audited number.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened with Tom Kim?
He went from a three-time PGA Tour winner by age 20 to missing the 2026 Masters during a near-three-year form slump, then won the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open to end the drought.
Are Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim still friends?
Yes. Reports describe them as close, regular practice partners, even though Scheffler beat Kim in a playoff at the 2024 Travelers Championship.
Does Tom Kim have to serve in the military?
Yes, unless he earns an athletic exemption. Kim is competing at the 2026 Asian Games, where gold in either the men’s individual event or the team event would qualify him for an exemption. An Olympic medal can also qualify.
What is Tom Kim’s net worth?
There is no verified public net-worth figure for Tom Kim. The PGA Tour lists $21,672,574 in career official earnings, but endorsement income and personal finances are private. Published net-worth figures should therefore be treated as estimates rather than confirmed totals.
Is Tom Kim married?
Yes. He married Lee Seo-yeon in a private ceremony in late 2025.
How old is Tom Kim?
He’s 24, born June 21, 2002.
How tall is Tom Kim?
6 feet (183 cm).
Did Tom Kim go to college?
No. He turned professional at 15, in 2018, straight out of junior golf.
Final Word
Tom Kim’s story right now isn’t really about talent — nobody doubted that at 20. It’s about whether a fresh coach, a new putter and a settled personal life hold up over a full season, not just one hot week in Scotland.
The RBC Canadian Open T15, not the major finishes, might be the more honest signal: solid, not spectacular, exactly what you’d expect from a player rebuilding rather than one who’s fully arrived.
Tom Kim’s 2026 comeback is no longer a one-week story. He followed his Scottish Open victory by going 4-1-0 at the Presidents Cup. His next event carries a different kind of pressure: the Asian Games, where gold could settle the military-service question that has followed his career.
After that, the longer-term test is whether this level of golf holds through a full 2027 PGA Tour season.
If you’re curious about another young player who turned outside pressure into fast major success, our profile of Ruoning Yin’s rise to World No. 1 is a good next read.