Instead of lamenting a missed opportunity to secure a fourth PGA Tour victory, Tom Kim is accentuating the positive from his runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler at the Travelers Championship.

“It was a really good week last week,” Kim said at his press conference ahead of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Kim is the favorite (+1200 on FanDuel) to win at Detroit Golf Club.

Kim held the lead after the first three rounds at TPC River Highlands and went toe-to-toe with his Dallas neighbor and close friend throughout Sunday. Kim fired 62-65-65-66 to finish at 22-under par, but a tentative putt on the 16th green and an over-spun approach on the playoff hole was all Scheffler — who carded a relentless, bogey-free 65 — needed to seize his sixth victory of the season.

Kim — who turned 22 last Friday, the same day Scheffler turned 28 — has already racked up three wins on the PGA Tour. As a Signature Event with an exclusive field, the Travelers would have marked a step up.

“We did everything we could to try and get the win,” Kim said Wednesday. “Me and Scottie both beat the field by two, which is I think really hard to do at this level, at the depth of field.

“Overall, just kind of where my game has been, it's just kind of nice to see results just kind of come into play.”

Kim's perspective is healthy — and not just because runner-ups to Prime Scottie is never too shabby. The South Korean's ascendance has been slowed through the first five months of 2024. Kim recorded just two top-20 finishes (T17 at the WM Phoenix Open, a T18 at the RBC Heritage) prior to June. He missed the Players Championship due to an illness. He didn't contend at the Masters nor the PGA Championship. He ranks 56th in strokes gained: total on the PGA Tour this year.

Kim, who finished T26 at the U.S. Open, believes the motivation to hone his craft for major season has resulted in general fine-tuning.

“The whole mindset of this stretch was to kind of get my competition game sharper, get ready for the majors. I'm very fortunate that it actually has shown and how my game has trended the right way.”

He's seen results in June, beginning with a 65-64 weekend at the RBC Canadian Open, resulting in a T4.

“I think everything's just kind of coming together,” Kim said at Detroit GC. “My game — I felt like it was in a really good state the whole year, but just haven't seen really good results.”

Kim ended 2023 ranked no. 11. After sliding out of the top 40, he's back up to no. 16 entering the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“I felt like I've learned a lot more from my failures … like tough weeks and runner-up finishes, because I feel like there's just so much more to gain. Where golf, you lose 99 percent of the year, that's just kind of the way it goes. Only one guy wins the trophy and everyone else goes home. Victories are so much fun, that's why you play golf, to lift up some trophies, but when you play really good and you finish second to the No. 1 golfer in the world …

“To see that, man, like I played really good, I had 24 birdies and two bogeys and the two bogeys came from two three-putts. Man, if I could save one of those shots, I win the golf tournament by one. I feel there's so much more to gain when you have weeks like that.”

Kim will play in the marquee group with RBC Canadian Open winner Robert MacIntyre and Cameron Young, fresh off shooting a 59 on Moving Day at the Travelers. The group will start on the 10th hole at 7:40 a.m. ET on Thursday and the 1st hole at 1:05 p.m. ET on Friday.