Kim Min-kyu (golfer)

Kim Min-kyu
Personal information
Born (2001-03-24) 24 March 2001 (age 23)
Gwangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Sporting nationality South Korea
Career
Turned professional2017
Current tour(s)European Tour
Asian Tour
Korean Tour
Former tour(s)Challenge Tour
Professional wins7
Number of wins by tour
Asian Tour2
Challenge Tour1
Other4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT31: 2024

Kim Min-kyu (Korean: 김민규; born 24 March 2001), also known as Minkyu Kim, is a South Korean professional golfer. Aged 17, he won the 2018 D+D Real Czech Challenge on the Challenge Tour becoming the youngest-ever winner on the tour.

Professional career

Kim turned professional in early 2017 and won his first professional event on the Jamega Pro Golf Tour at the Windmill Hill Classic.[1] Following this, Kim then played on the 2017 PGA EuroPro Tour. He won two tournaments in successive weeks in August, the Pentahotels Championship and FORE Business Championship.[2][3] He was runner-up in the end-of-season Tour Championship Amendoeira Golf Resort and finished second in the Order of Merit to earn a place on the Challenge Tour for 2018.

In May 2018 he won the D+D Real Czech Challenge on the Challenge Tour becoming, at 17 years, 64 days, the youngest-ever winner on the tour.[4]

In June 2022, Kim won the Kolon Korea Open; a co-sanctioned Asian Tour and Korean Tour event. He beat Cho Min-gyu in a three-hole aggregate playoff.[5]

Professional wins (7)

Asian Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 26 Jun 2022 Kolon Korea Open1 −4 (72-71-68-69=280) Playoff South Korea Cho Min-gyu
2 23 Jun 2024 Kolon Korea Open1 (2) −11 (70-66-71-66=273) 3 strokes South Korea Song Young-han

1Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2022 Kolon Korea Open South Korea Cho Min-gyu Won three-hole aggregate playoff;
Kim: E (3-5-4=12),
Cho: +1 (3-4-6=13)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 27 May 2018 D+D Real Czech Challenge −20 (67-66-69-66=268) 3 strokes Sweden Sebastian Söderberg

Korean Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 26 Jun 2022 Kolon Korea Open1 −4 (72-71-68-69=280) Playoff South Korea Cho Min-gyu
2 2 Jun 2024 Descente Korea Munsingwear Matchplay 20 holes South Korea Cho Woo-young
3 23 Jun 2024 Kolon Korea Open1 (2) −11 (70-66-71-66=273) 3 strokes South Korea Song Young-han

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Korean Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2020 KPGA Open South Korea Kim Han-byeol, South Korea Lee Soo-min Lee won with birdie on second extra hole
Kim Han-byeol eliminated by birdie on first hole
2 2022 Kolon Korea Open South Korea Cho Min-gyu Won three-hole aggregate playoff;
Kim: E (3-5-4=12),
Cho: +1 (3-4-6=13)

PGA EuroPro Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 18 Aug 2017 Pentahotels Championship −14 (65-67-73=205) 2 strokes England Stiggy Hodgson
2 25 Aug 2017 FORE Business Championship −12 (68-63-73=204) Playoff Republic of Ireland Niall Kearney

Jamega Pro Golf Tour (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 7 Aug 2017 Windmill Hill Classic −6 (67)* 1 stroke England Jamie Abbott, England Ben Storey,
England Joshua White

*Note: The 2017 Windmill Hill Classic was shortened to 18 holes due to rain.

Results in major championships

Tournament 2022 2023 2024
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT T31
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

References

  1. ^ "First Win for Min Kyu Kim". Jamega Pro Golf Tour. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Kim cruises to Pentahotels Championship win". PGA EuroPro Tour. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Kim is FORE Business Championship winner". PGA EuroPro Tour. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  4. ^ "17-year-old Min-kyu Kim becomes youngest European Challenge Tour winner". Golf News Net. 27 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Kim Min-kyu wins Korea Open after grueling playoff". Korea JoongAng Daily. 26 June 2022.