Michael Kim turned his PGA Championship weekend around in spectacular fashion, firing a blistering 5-under 30 on the front nine during Saturday's third round at Aronimink Golf Club. The fast start, fueled by six birdies, catapulted him up the leaderboard and into early contention.
Just a day earlier, Kim's tournament looked all but over. He was outside the cut line in Round 2 until a dramatic chip-in for eagle on his final hole saved his weekend. That moment of magic carried over into Saturday, where he made more birdies on the front nine alone than he had in the first two rounds combined. He opened with three straight birdies, stumbled briefly with a bogey on the fourth, then responded with three more birdies over the next three holes—including a near hole-out from the rough on the seventh.
Kim's surge was a testament to the unpredictability of "moving day" at a major. He jumped from 93rd after the first round to 53rd after the second, and by the time he made the turn on Saturday, he had cracked the top 10. That's no small feat given the unusually tight leaderboard at Aronimink. With 15 players separated by just two shots heading into the weekend, it was the biggest logjam at a major since 2002. The difference between first place and last among the 82 players who made the cut was only eight strokes—remarkably close for any tournament, let alone a PGA Championship.
Kim's early charge suggested that low scores were possible, and that more golfers could zip into contention on an already crowded leaderboard. All of this unfolded before the afternoon tee times of leaders Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy, adding pressure to the afternoon groups.
Beyond the prestige of winning a major, there was serious cash at stake. The PGA Championship raised its total prize fund to $20.5 million this year, a $1.5 million increase from 2025. The winner's share? A cool $3.69 million. For Kim, who has never finished better than 17th in a major, Saturday's front-nine fireworks were a reminder that in golf, momentum—and a little bit of luck—can change everything.