U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2026

June 21, 2026

Tom Kim

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

Flash Interview

THE MODERATOR: Here with Tom Kim, finished up with even-par 70. Looks like you'll come up just a bit short, but what are some of your takeaways this week?

TOM KIM: Yeah, obviously I had to qualify, so I was just very grateful to be here to be able to tee it up. You know, for the first time I was able to really taste a major championship right in front of my fingertips. I can go back this whole week and just see how close I actually am, and I think I finished three back, so a lot of little soft, small stuff that if I had done better, I definitely would have had a chance.

But I'm not going to look at the week of what could have been. I'm going to look at the week where, you know, I haven't had -- this is my best finish in a major since the British Open in 2023, so a lot of positives.

I think this is going to give me a big boost for the rest of the season. Yeah, definitely a great week, and congrats to Wyndham.

THE MODERATOR: With your finish, you will not have to qualify for next year at Pebble Beach. How cool is that? We'll see you there.

TOM KIM: Qualifying is definitely hard. I got a really good taste of that. To be able to not do a 36-hole anymore is very satisfying.

Q. You mentioned this being your best finish at a major since the British Open four years ago. I guess what do you feel like you can take from these four days that maybe reminded you of what went right at the British Open, and what do you think maybe has sort of symbolized your growth since then?

TOM KIM: I think my last -- when I finished second at the British, I really felt like, you know, I was going through an ankle injury at that time where I hurt myself during the week. I kind of felt like I had to -- I played my best golf that whole week outside of Thursday, because I hurt myself Thursday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday I felt like I played as good as I could have just to make the cut, then to kind of get inside the top 10 and have a good finish on Sunday to finish second.

This week I really felt like I did a lot of good things, but I really do feel like I left a lot of shots out there. I think that's a very -- it's a big positive for me and my team. You look at it and instead of going, man, that's as good as I could have done, I look back and am, like, okay, if I can get better at just a couple more things, I can -- I definitely have -- I can definitely get my hands on one of these.

You know, I think it's very, very different. I think I felt more uncomfortable today than I did back then because I think the conditions and how I was feeling. So to be able to feel 100% kind of body-wise and to be able to compete like this was a very different experience.

Q. Your best finish at a U.S. Open. Kind of what was the mentality going into this week, and was there a mantra going through your head that helped you out here?

TOM KIM: Yeah, you know, it's very interesting. I came this week, and I just felt so calm and so confident this week for some reason. I just felt like I -- I feel like at a U.S. Open you normally think that the golf courses are very difficult, and they are, but I just kind of told myself that it's not as hard as people think. It feels a lot easier than I can imagine.

So I really felt comfortable, and I really kind of convinced myself that it's not a difficult golf course, which helped me -- I felt like it helped me play good this week. I think that was a big difference, because you can always tell yourself that it's not that hard, but to actually believe it and to think, it it's a different story.

I really felt like Thursday, you know, I just somehow convinced myself that as hard as this golf course is, it wasn't as difficult. That's not true, but it's just kind of how I felt.