Kim Bi-o (Korean: 김비오; born 21 August 1990) is a South Korean professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour.

Kim Bi-o
Personal information
Born (1990-08-21) 21 August 1990 (age 33)
Seoul, South Korea
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight178 lb (81 kg; 12.7 st)
Sporting nationality South Korea
Career
CollegeYonsei University
Turned professional2009
Current tour(s)Asian Tour
Korean Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
OneAsia Tour
Professional wins10
Highest ranking99 (12 June 2022)[1]
(as of 24 March 2024)
Number of wins by tour
Asian Tour1
Other9
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2022
U.S. OpenT45: 2013
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2023
Achievements and awards
Korean Tour
Order of Merit winner
2010
Korean Tour
Player of the Year
2010
Korean Tour
Rookie of the Year
2010
OneAsia Tour
Order of Merit winner
2012
Asian Tour
Rookie of the Year
2022

Amateur career edit

As an amateur, Kim won the Korean Amateur Open and Japan Amateur Golf Championship in 2008.[2] He also represented Asia/Pacific in the 2008 Bonallack Trophy and South Korea in the 2008 Eisenhower Trophy.

Professional career edit

Kim turned professional in 2009 and joined his home Korean Tour for 2010, winning the Johnnie Walker Open by 6 strokes.

At the end of the 2010 season, he entered qualifying school for the PGA Tour and gained his playing rights in eleventh place. He lost his PGA Tour card after finishing 162nd on the money list. He split his 2012 season between the OneAsia Tour and Web.com Tour. Kim won for the second time as a professional in 2011 at the Nanshan China Masters on the OneAsia Tour. He picked up his third victory at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open on the OneAsia Tour in May 2012. Along with his two victories on the OneAsia Tour in 2012, Kim won the tour's Order of Merit. With his two victories he was the leading money winner on the Korean Tour in 2012 even though he only played three events. Kim's highest World Ranking was 200th, in May 2012.[3]

In 2013, he played on the Web.com Tour for a second season, but made only two cuts in 15 tournaments.[4]

From 2014, he has played mainly on the Korean Tour. From 2014 to 2018 he had little success and had long spells outside the top 1000 in the world rankings. During this period his best finishes were to be fourth in the 2015 Gunsan CC Open and the 2017 DGB Financial Group Daegu Gyeongbuk Open

Kim showed a return to form in 2019. He won the NS HomeShopping Gunsan CC Jeonbuk Open, the second event of the 2019 Korean Tour season, his first win since 2012. In late September he had his second win of the season, the DGB Financial Group Volvik Daegu Gyeongbuk Open.

On 1 October 2019, the Korean Professional Golfers Association announced that Kim has been suspended for three years after making an obscene gesture during the final round of the DGB Financial Group Volvik Daegu Gyeongbuk Open, which Kim won. On the 16th hole, after a cellphone camera shutter went off during his downswing, Kim turned and flipped off the crowd, before slamming his club into the ground.[5] Kim apologized for the gesture and decided not to appeal the suspension. His suspension was reduced to one year on 24 October, but the 10 million won fine and 120 hours of community service remained.[6]

Amateur wins edit

  • 2008 Korean Amateur Open, Japan Amateur Golf Championship

Professional wins (10) edit

Asian Tour wins (1) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 8 May 2022 GS Caltex Maekyung Open1 −9 (67-68-68-72=275) 2 strokes   Cho Min-gyu

1Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

OneAsia Tour wins (3) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 5 Jun 2011 Nanshan China Masters −10 (74-67-71-66=278) Playoff   Craig Hancock,   Scott Laycock,
  Michael Long
2 13 May 2012 GS Caltex Maekyung Open1 −15 (69-69-67-68=273) 5 strokes   Ryu Hyun-woo
3 20 May 2012 SK Telecom Open1 −18 (68-68-67-67=270) 3 strokes   Park Sang-hyun

1Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

OneAsia Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2011 Nanshan China Masters   Craig Hancock,   Scott Laycock,
  Michael Long
Won with birdie on third extra hole
Hancock eliminated by par on second hole
Laycock eliminated by par on first hole

Korean Tour wins (9) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 8 Aug 2010 Johnnie Walker Open −20 (68-65-68-67=268) 6 strokes   Lee Min-chang,   Park Do-kyu,
  Yoon Jung-ho (a)
2 13 May 2012 GS Caltex Maekyung Open1 −15 (69-69-67-68=273) 5 strokes   Ryu Hyun-woo
3 20 May 2012 SK Telecom Open1 −18 (68-68-67-67=270) 3 strokes   Park Sang-hyun
4 28 Apr 2019 NS HomeShopping Gunsan CC Jeonbuk Open −7 (68-70-72-67=277) 2 strokes   Kim Tae-hoon
5 29 Sep 2019 DGB Financial Group Volvik Daegu Gyeongbuk Open −17 (69-67-67-68=271) 1 stroke   Kim Dae-hyun
6 7 Nov 2021 LG Signature Players Championship −23 (71-65-66-63=265) 6 strokes   Tom Kim
7 8 May 2022 GS Caltex Maekyung Open2 (2) −9 (67-68-68-72=275) 2 strokes   Cho Min-gyu
8 5 Jun 2022 SK Telecom Open (2) −19 (69-66-67-63=265) 7 strokes   Gang Yun-seok
9 3 Sep 2023 LX Championship −21 (65-68-67-67=267) Playoff   Hwang Jung-gon

1Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Korean Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2023 LX Championship   Hwang Jung-gon Won with par on second extra hole

Results in major championships edit

Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
U.S. Open T45
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
PGA Championship CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship NT CUT

T = Tied
CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Note: Kim never played in the Masters Tournament.

Team appearances edit

Amateur

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Week 24 2022 Ending 12 Jun 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Young guns fire ahead". Asian Tour. Archived from the original on 2012-07-21.
  3. ^ "Bio Kim". Official World Golf Ranking.
  4. ^ "Bio Kim". PGA Tour.
  5. ^ Lavner, Ryan (1 October 2019). "Korean Tour money leader suspended 3 years for obscene gesture". Golf Channel.
  6. ^ Wacker, Brian (24 October 2019). "Report: Bio Kim's suspension on the Korean Tour reduced from three years to one". Golf Digest.

External links edit