For those who have not recently checked on Tom Kim’s career trajectory, doing so would be a bit of a shock. At 23, he seems like he’s been around forever. He has three PGA Tour wins, 12 victories total on various tours around the world, and has twice been an International team agitator against the U.S. in the Presidents Cup.

Kim also has fallen off the competitive map for the better part of the last three years—which is why he found himself in his current hometown of Dallas on Monday trying to qualify for his fifth U.S. Open. Since the start of the 2024 season, the South Korean has notched only four top-10 finishes in his past 61 starts and his last wins came in back-to-back victories in Las Vegas in 2022-23. Kim’s best chance at a more recent victory came when he lost a playoff to Scottie Scheffler in the ’24 Travelers Championship.

It’s been a bad run that has dropped Kim to 141st in the Official World Golf Ranking, a plunge from being as high as 11th. That kind of position doesn’t get one qualified into any majors, and Kim felt that sting by already missing this year’s Masters and PGA Championship, snapping a string of 15 consecutive majors played.

Duly motivated and coming off his best finish of the season—a T-6 in the opposite-field Myrtle Beach Classic—Kim played well in a strong field of professionals on Monday at Dallas Athletic Club. He opened with a 66 and backed that with an afternoon 68 to finish eight-under 134, one shot behind medalist Peter Uihlein (67-66).

The top nine players scorers advanced out of Dallas to play next month at Shinnecock Hills, and another who earned his spot was the winner of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Like Kim, he’s been mostly off the radar because he’s been playing on LIV Golf. With his exemption from that victory expired and McDowell not having a U.S. Open start since 2020, the 46-year-old Northern Irishman reached the championship again by shooting four-under 138 in Dallas to tie for fifth.

Baylor alum Dossey Cooper finished alone in third, followed by UCLA product Manav Shah. Three players were tied with McDowell—Jimmy Stanger, TK Kim and Adrien Dumont de Chassart.

A six-way tie for the ninth and final position required a playoff, and it was Tennessee product and LIV golfer Caleb Surratt who prevailed. Among those eliminated was longtime PGA Tour player Kevin Streelman.

Among other notable players who did not advance out of Dallas: Sergio Garcia, Eric Cole, Joel Dahmen, Nick Dunlap, Charley Hoffman and Harold Varner III.

The Dallas final qualifier, as well as one at Walton Heath in England, kicked off the schedule of 13 events that will fill out the U.S. Open field. Japan hosts a qualifier on May 25 and then comes “Golf’s Longest Day,” on June 8, when 11 qualifiers are played around the U.S. and Canada.

In England, home countryman and DP World Tour player Nathan Kimsey—ranked 241st the world—medaled by topping his opening 68 with a 62. The top seven players qualified, and Frenchman Ugo Coussaud earned the final spot in a four-man playoff that included LIV Golf’s Thomas Detry. No one who advanced out of the English event is ranked in the top 200 in the world.

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Adam Scott, who will make his 100th straight major appearance, and three-time major champion Jordan Spieth were among the 35 additional golfers who have reached next month’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock, as announced on Monday by the USGA.

The cutoff for the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking ended on Sunday with the conclusion of the PGA Championship, with 24 players earning their place via that route, and the winner at Aronimink, Aaron Rai, was also among those who reached the field who hadn’t otherwise done so. The current U.S. Open field now stands at 86.

Scott, who is 49th in the OWGR, will join only Jack Nicklaus in making his 100th straight start in a major. The Australian began his streak at the 2001 Open Championship, and the 2013 Masters champion has played in every U.S. Open since 2002.

Spieth, who began the season outside the qualifying bubble at No. 80, has three top-20 finishes in signature events this season and tied for 11th in the Masters to move up to No. 47.

Also qualifying is former LIV Golfer Patrick Reed, who at No. 21 was the highest-ranked player in the OWGR who had not previously been exempt. Reed finished fourth in the last time the U.S. Open was played at Shinnecock in 2018.

Kristoffer Reitan, the recent winner of the signature Truist Championship, will make his U.S. Open debut after jumping 48 spots in the OWGR. Alex Smalley moved up 36 spots to No. 42 after his T-2 finish at the PGA Championship and will make his second U.S. Open start, and first since 2017 at Erin Hills.

The other players who earned full exemptions through the current OWGR are: Nicolai Hojgaard, Kurt Kitayama, Min Woo Lee, Ryan Gerard, Rickie Fowler, Jake Knapp, Jason Day, Marco Penge, Daniel Berger, Michael Kim, Matt McCarty, Nicolas Echavarria, Samuel Stevens, Ryan Fox, Michael Brennan, Pierceson Coody, David Puig and Ryo Hisatsune.

Ten other players earned exemptions based on their performances in four additional categories. The top five players in the PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings are Alex Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Patrick Rodgers and Matthias Schmid. The top two players from the final 2025 DP World Tour Race to Dubai Rankings, who were not otherwise exempt, are Laurie Canter and Adrien Saddier. Jayden Schaper is the highest ranked player on the current Race to Dubai Rankings who was not otherwise exempt.

Joaquin Niemann is the top player who is not otherwise exempt and finished the top three of the 2025 LIV Golf League individual standings. Lucas Herbert is the top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top three of the current LIV Golf League individual standings.

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