One day your newborn comes home from the NICU. The next day you’re fighting for your PGA Tour card.

Chan Kim opened the 2025 PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage with a leading 6-under 64 at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday. It’s the kind of performance that should’ve had him celebrating. Instead, he was thinking about getting home to FaceTime his wife and check on their daughter Jenna.

The day before, Jenna had finally come home from the hospital for the first time in her life.

30% Chance

Early November. Kim’s at the WWT Championship in Cabo, about to miss his 12th cut in 15 starts. His season’s unraveling, his Tour card slipping away, and he gets a call. His wife Sally, still three weeks from her due date, is being rushed in for an emergency C-section.

Kim jumped on the first plane to Phoenix. He didn’t make it in time.

Jenna was born at approximately 10 pounds—over two pounds of that excess fluid from hydrops, a severe and potentially fatal condition in newborns. Doctors gave her a 30% chance of survival.

“Very emotional the first two weeks,” Kim said. “Doctors didn’t know if she was going to survive, which in turn just put us under a lot of stress.”

The Impossible Choice

Kim sat in that hospital room facing a decision no one should have to make. His daughter was fighting for her life. His career was dying too—he’d finished 113th in FedExCup points, outside the new top-100 cutoff for keeping Tour cards.

He had two events left. Bermuda and RSM. If he didn’t play, Q-School was his only path back.

“I really contemplated not playing the last two events,” Kim admitted. “I felt like I needed to be there for the family.”

But his wife told him to go. Their daughter was in the best NICU in Phoenix. They’d send updates every day.

So Kim flew to Bermuda, arrived the day before the tournament, and started 8-over through 11 holes. But something happened. With his mind mostly back home, desperate to finish his rounds and jump on FaceTime, Kim stopped overthinking. He battled back for T-22. Then closed his fall with T-41 at RSM with bookend 66s.

He finished 130th. Just enough to guarantee his exemption to Q-School Final Stage.

Perspective

Kim’s spent recent weeks bouncing between the golf course and the hospital. He’s already changed Jenna’s first diaper—in the NICU, not at home where it should’ve been. She’s on medication for a minor blood clot in her heart, getting doses every 12 hours.

But her labs look great. She’s home. And on Wednesday, the day before Q-School started, Kim finally got to bring her through the front door.

Thursday morning, he switched to a new driver and putter and shot 64.

“Everyone is fighting for their livelihoods this week,” he said. “Though few have the perspective that I now possess. Golf isn’t everything is more than just a saying for me.”

He paused, then added with a smile: “You know, I’ve got to find a way to make diaper money at least.”

The Grinder

Kim’s 35 years old and he’s been through every Q-School you can imagine. Asian Tour. Japan Tour. European Tour. Korn Ferry. He can’t fully explain why he’s so good at them, only that he treats them like regular tournaments where he’s trying to win, not just finish top-five.

Early this year, it looked like he’d finally settled in. First career top-five at Valero Texas Open. T7 the next week at Corales. Then came 11 missed cuts in 14 starts. His game unraveled just as it seemed to be coming together.

But now, with Jenna finally home and recovering, Kim’s mind is clearer than it’s been in months. No more swing thoughts cluttering his brain. No more technical minutiae. Just golf, then home, then FaceTime with his girls.

Fighting Through

After that opening 64, Kim’s settled into a rhythm. Through three rounds at TPC Sawgrass, he’s tied for 17th at 7-under, four shots back of the leaders at 11-under. One round left. Sunday. Five Tour cards available—and this year, no ties. If there’s a tie for fifth place, they go to a sudden-death playoff.

The golf world is watching. Rooting. Four shots might seem like a lot, but this is Q-School. Anything can happen. Fortunes change on a single hole. Dreams live and die by inches.

Kim knows this better than anyone. He’s been grinding through Q-Schools his entire career. But this one feels different. This one has Jenna waiting at home.

What Really Matters

The field includes five-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas at 43 years old, also at 6-under and hunting for full status. Last year’s Q-School medalist Lanto Griffin trying to get his card back again. Three-time winner Cameron Champ. Two-time winner Luke List.

They’re all grinding. They’re all desperate. They all need this.

But only one of them is playing for diaper money with a daughter who just beat 30% odds waiting at home. The golf community knows it. They’re pulling for him. One more round to make everything right.