In the third round at Memphis’ FedEx St. Jude Championship, Michael Kim’s day unraveled in a flash: a watery tee shot on the par-3 14th, a hasty drop that rolled perilously close to the red hazard line, and before he knew it, he was handed a costly two-stroke penalty that turned a bogey into a triple. It was a moment of frustration captured on camera—and one he couldn’t shake off even after the round.

Kim, now 32, burst onto the PGA Tour in 2016 and scored his lone victory at the 2018 John Deere Classic, yet his career since has largely been a struggle, especially on the course. Over a decade, he’s managed just one win, a runner-up, and a third-place finish, with inconsistency marking most of his results. Still, he’s gained popularity off the course, particularly on X, where he shares candid reflections. At TPC Southwind, he sat tied for 67th, six-over par, with his chances of climbing the leaderboard all but vanished—yet it was that one hole that seemed to sum up the day’s woes. 

Crushed by the error yet eager to break it down, Kim turned to X after the round. He laid out exactly what went wrong, how a lack of attention on the drop cost him two strokes, and didn’t hold back his frustration. That post becomes the window into both a lesson learned and the raw emotion behind a pro’s misstep on the PGA Tour.

Taking to his official X account, Kim wrote, “On hole 14 today, I hit a bad iron shot into the water. I took a drop and it rolled near the red hazard line. I thought it was clear of the red line but after the round a rules official showed me a video of my drop and it looked like the ball was on the line.” He continued, 

“Any part of the ball can’t be on the line nor cross the vertical plane of the line like the first down or endzone. I was still annoyed after my tee shot, I didn’t take my time to make sure I took a proper drop and I was penalized two shots for it. 🤦🏻‍♂️” The extra penalty turned a single-mistake hole into an even heavier blow on the scorecard.

Looking to move forward, Kim said, “Not my best moment and will use it as a learning experience. Luckily it’s not going to affect my standing for next week.” His focus now shifts to the BMW Championship, where he’ll aim to keep his playoff run alive and push toward a career-first appearance at the Tour Championship. But will it affect his chances of qualifying for the final playoffs? Find out below:

Is Michael Kim qualified to play in the TOUR Championship 2025?

After the conclusion of the main season, Michael Kim has had 1 runner-up finish and 2 other top-10s this season. Overall, he has performed quite impressively throughout 2025. In fact, this is the first time he has played in the FedEx St Jude Championship since 2018. It took him 7 years to make it to the playoffs again, and this has been his best finish in the FedEx Cup standings in his entire PGA Tour career.

He’s ranked 36th in the rankings. That does mean that he is qualified for the St Jude Championship and the BMW Championship as well. However, Kim will need to get a top-10 finish at Caves Valley to book a ticket to East Lake. If he does manage to do so, then it will be the first time in his career that Michael Kim will play in the TOUR Championship. While he may have made some mistakes at TPC Southwind, he had better be prepared to have a flawless run at Maryland. If Kim can imitate his performance from the WM Phoenix Open from earlier this season, then there is no doubt that he would make it to the final playoffs this year.