Following on from a number of exciting tournaments and big name winners, the sixth Signature Event of the 2025 PGA Tour season gets underway at Philadelphia Cricket Club, but one recognized name has surprisingly not managed to qualify.
The Truist Championship will see the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele present, but fellow PGA Tour winner, Tom Kim, hasn't qualified for the event and is, instead, listed in the opposite field tournament, the Myrtle Beach Classic.
Missing The Sentry at the start of the season, Kim then played in the next three Signature Events - AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
This week, the Truist Championship takes place alongside the Myrtle Beach Classic and, given the talent Kim possesses, it was surprising to see the 22-year-old listed in the latter's field.
There are various ways that players can qualify for the $20 million Signature Events, but Kim was unable to fall into any of the various categories available.
Firstly, the top 50 in the prior season’s FedEx Cup standings qualify for the Signature Events, but Kim finished 51st in the FedEx Cup and 59th in the FedEx Cup Fall.
What's more, those inside the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking can qualify, but the South Korean has seen his position in those standings drop from 23rd to 41st throughout 2025.
There is also the AON Next 10 and AON Swing 5 rankings. These work by the current FedEx Cup standings and, as of writing, Kim is 78th on that leaderboard.
In terms of players who qualified for the Truist Championship via the Aon Next 10 (top 10 players on the 2025 FedEx Cup standings through the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, not otherwise exempt) were: Andrew Novak, Maverick McNealy, J.J. Spaun, Justin Rose, Daniel Berger, Michael Kim, Nick Taylor, Ben Griffin, Lucas Glover and Min Woo Lee.
There was a chance that Kim could qualify via the Aon Swing 5, but instead Erik van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Sam Stevens, Michael Thorbjornsen and Rasmus Hojgaard punched their tickets to Philadelphia Cricket Club.
The last few ways to qualify are by winning a PGA Tour event during the season, something that Kim hasn't done yet, or by a sponsor's invitation. However, these went to Rickie Fowler, Keith Mitchell, Jordan Spieth and Gary Woodland.
Kim's best finish of 2025 came at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, where he finished in a share of seventh.
Aside from the one top 10, the three-time PGA Tour winner's second best result was T36th at the Valspar Championship, with Kim missing four cuts in 11 starts.
He will be one of the favorites at the Myrtle Beach Classic, though, where Chris Gotterup cruised to a six shot victory in 2024. Like Kim, Gotterup will also be among the favorites, as the tournament gets underway on the 8 - 11th May.
