“I kind of remember thinking on 18 that you have to go for it,” Kim said, “60 or 61 doesn’t really make too much of a difference.”

The run began at the third hole, sinking a 13-foot birdie putt, the first of five straight. That was the longest putt he needed to convert during that run, repeatedly stuffing approach shots close. Kim added another birdie at the ninth to make the turn in 6-under 29 and quickly continued his torrid pace with birdies at the 10th and 12th holes. Still, he seemed too far off the pace when he reached the 15th hole, needing to play the final four holes in 4-under.

He did just that, and he relied on the putter down the stretch.

Kim holed four birdie putts outside 10 feet, including the decisive 24-footer for birdie at the 18th, rolling it in, raising his hands into the air and fist-pumping.

“There’s a lot of water on 17 and 18 and I just kind of told myself like hey, this is the way — this is the moment to get into the history books and let’s go for it, let’s not try to luck our way into it, let’s try to step up and hit some really good shots,” Kim said. “To be able to make some putts, and the putts that I made on 17 and 18 is what I get most from PGA TOUR golf, from golf in general, so really proud of that.”