McKINNEY, Texas — Kris Kim, a 16-year-old amateur playing on a sponsor exemption at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, became the youngest player in nine years to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.
Kim finished his second round Friday with a birdie for a 4-under 67.
At 7-under 135, he was among 66 players who made the cut, which was 6 under.
“Just make the cut, to be honest,” Kim told reporters after the round. “I knew something around this number would be good enough, but to shoot that I’m pretty happy.”
Jake Knapp was the leader at 14-under 128.
Kyle Suppa was 16 when he made the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2015.
“It feels pretty good,” Kim said. “I feel like I played well over the last two days. Stay pretty patient out there, and I guess it worked.”
At 16 years, seven months old, Kim surpassed Jordan Spieth as the youngest player to make the cut at the Nelson.
“I’ve enjoyed it so much the last couple of days, and being here two more days makes it so much sweeter.”
Kim finished Saturday’s third round tied for 46rd at 8-under after shooting a 1 under for the day with Knapp getting ready to tee off.
Spieth was two months shy of his 17th birthday when made his first PGA Tour start at his hometown event in 2010, and finished tied for 16th.
Kim, who is the son of former LPGA Tour player and South Korea native Ji-Hyun Suh, is making his PGA Tour debut.
He is the first amateur sponsored by South Korean company CJ Group, which is the title sponsor of the Nelson for the first time.
— With AP
