NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous pick as Defensive Player of the Year this season, and the only unanimous All-Defensive team selection as well.
The San Antonio star — as expected, given how the DPOY voting went — appeared on all 100 first-team ballots and made first-team All-Defense for the second time in his three NBA seasons. The team was announced Friday night.
Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren, Detroit's Ausar Thompson, Minnesota's Rudy Gobert and Boston's Derrick White rounded out the first team. Gobert is now a nine-time All-Defensive team pick, while Holmgren, Thompson and White were all first-time selections to the first team.
The second team was Toronto's Scottie Barnes, Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace, Miami's Bam Adebayo, New York's OG Anunoby and Atlanta's Dyson Daniels.
Gobert and Daniels are the only players that have made the All-Defensive team in each of the last two seasons.
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San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, left, and Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, right, greet following Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoffs series in Minneapolis, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) goes to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson (9) during the second half in Game 5 of a second-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) defends against Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the second half of Game 2 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Si Woo Kim just missed out on a 59 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Friday, bogeying the final hole when a par would have given him the 16th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.
The 30-year-old South Korean put himself in position to break 60 with a curling 17-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 17th hole at TPC Craig Ranch. It was his 12th birdie of the day, putting him at 12 under on the par-71 layout.
Kim was in the fairway on the 18th, but blasted his second shot over the green. His chip coming back stopped about 19 feet short of the hole, and his putt for par lacked pace and broke to the right for his only bogey of the day. Kim shot 11-under 60 for a five-shot lead at 18-under 124 after two rounds.
The 18th hole at Craig Ranch — about 30 miles north of Dallas — is a par 4 for the first time in the six Nelson tournaments it has hosted. A $25 million overhaul designed by Lanny Wadkins changed it from a par 5, and it has played as the hardest hole on the course through two rounds.
Most of the rest of the holes are as easy as they've been in the past — despite more bunkers along the fairways and contours on the greens. Part of the the reason is soft conditions from a rainy opening day and calm winds that aren't supposed to pick up on the weekend, either. Because of the rain on Thursday, players were still allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway.
Kim, playing with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, took full advantage.
The four-time PGA Tour winner who lives in Dallas already had seven birdies through 10 holes when he put his 166-yard approach shot at the par-4 11th inside 3 feet.
Needing just one birdie over the final three holes for a 59, Kim missed by inches on the par-4 16th. Hopes dimmed with his tee shot on the stadium hole at 17, until he dazzled by far the biggest of any of the galleries on the course with a perfect putt.
“I hit it great and putted great,” Kim said. “So everything was perfect, other than the last hole. I’ll still take it. Sixty is hard, but I was a little bit of thinking about the 59 after I make that on 17. It was a little bit of like adrenaline.”
Jim Furyk has the PGA Tour's 18-hole record with his 58 from the 2016 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. A 59 has been recorded 14 times, including by Furyk and Scheffler, who shot his at TPC Boston in 2020. That was two years before the first of his 20 tour wins, and four major victories.
“I definitely wasn’t going to tell him anything about his round today as we were out there,” Scheffler said. “I would say it would definitely be in poor taste to remind somebody they’re on 59 watch.”
The 59 watch overshadowed Scheffler's 8-under 63, which included a stretch where he was 5 under over four holes with a 45-foot eagle putt.
Scheffler was five shots back in second place, tied at 13 under with Kim's fellow South Korean, Sungjae Im, Japan's Kensei Hirata and Wyndham Clark. Im aced the par-3 seventh and shot 61.
“I feel like, when you’re watching somebody like Si Woo, especially when you’re paired with him, just watching somebody birdie every hole and you feel like the tournament is getting further and further away from you,” said Scheffler, who had a runaway eight-shot victory at his hometown Byron Nelson last year. “I think I did a good job of staying patient and not forcing things.”
Kim said he chose a hard 6-iron over a 5-iron for the approach on 18, and said the chip might have been too clean because it had too much spin and stopped sooner than he hoped.
“Yeah, it was a tough shot,” Kim said. “But I’ll take it still — 60.”
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Si Woo Kim, right, of South Korea, listens to his caddie Manuel Villegas before an approach shot on the 14th green during the first round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Si Woo Kim, of South Korea, watches his tee shot on the 14th hole during the first round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
