PGA Tour Injury Update: Michael Kim in Deep Waters as Back Injury Threatens His Kentucky Plans

Injuries causing last-moment withdraws for the tournaments have become common in golf. Recently, Michael Kim, whose name is listed in the field of the 2024 ISCO Championship (formerly known as the Barbasol Championship) has been under the same threat.

The 2024 ISCO Championship is supposed to take place during the same period as the prestigious DP World Tour event, the Scottish Open, from July 11 to July 14. With the injury so close to the beginning of the Kentucky tournament, Kim might have to make the hard decision of not playing in the event.

In a recent post shared by the one-time PGA Tour winner on his official X handle (formerly called Twitter), he expressed his true condition without hiding anything. He even clearly said what kind of shots he was able to play. “Full transparency… I tweaked my upper back/neck and could only putt and chip today. Got some treatment done on it and will have to see how it feels tomorrow… hopefully body will cooperate and heal up quickly.”

The injury and concerns of withdrawal are connected to something bigger. The 30-year-old pro, currently, holds the 109th position in the FedEx Cup rankings and if he does not finish inside the top 70, he won’t be allowed to swing in the playoffs. Moreover, he will have to play in the FedEx Cup Fall, which refers to a series of events played between Septemeber and December.

The concerns for the one-time PGA Tour winner don’t end here. Kim won’t be able to continue his PGA Tour membership for 2025, neither as a permanent member nor as a special temporary one, if he fails to finish under 150 in the FedEx Cup Fall. What has led Michael Kim into such a pit? Is his 2024 performance so far to blame?

How has Michael Kim been performing in 2024?

Diving into the performances of Michael Kim, he has definitely not been the best golfer of the year, having missed cuts in eight tournaments that he has played so far. These missed cuts also include the last championship he played, the John Deere Classic, which happens to be the only PGA Tour tournament that he has ever won (he won the 2016 edition’s trophy).

Talking about the rest of the performances (in which he made the cuts), he was able to finish inside the top 10 of just one event (the American Express). In the RBC Canadian Open and the Corales Puntacana Championship, he finished inside the top 20 but in all the other tournaments, he was outside of the top 20, with the worst position of T64 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. With the current injury, the fuel has been added to the fire as the chances of Kim getting eliminated from the FedEx Cup increase. Only time will if his predicament will worsen or not.