Kim sank a 24-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for his 12th birdie of the day. After conquering the par-5 18th hole to set a course record at TPC Twin Cities, he pumped his fist in celebration.
At 14-under 128 for the tournament, Kim led by three on Friday.
Kim, 33, is the first PGA player to card a 59 or better this season. He has one PGA Tour win on his resume - the 2018 John Deere Classic.
"I kind of remember thinking on 18 that you have to go for it, 60 or 61 doesn't really make too much of a difference," Kim said. "To shoot 59 today was pretty cool and feels like I'm part of the history books, which is great."
Kim is the first golfer to score a 59 or better on tour since Jake Knapp, who did so at the 2025 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
Kim's day began with back-to-back pars, which belied his upcoming round. He'd only dip back down to par four more times.
He recorded the first of five straight birdies at the third hole and added another on No.9 to sit at six-under 29 at the turn. He added birdies at Nos.10, 12, 15, 16 and 17 before sinking his long putt to end his day.
"Yeah, funny enough, some shots I didn't feel like supremely confident over, but that's kind of golf," Kim said.
"I was kind of happy I got away with par on 13. But other parts of my game, like my putting, felt fantastic. When you hit a putt and it does exactly what you kind of envisioned before you hit it, it's an awesome feeling. Felt like that all day out there."
First-round leader Ben Kohles suffered his first bogey of the tournament on the par-5 sixth, but he carded three birdies and finished with a two-under 69 to sit three shots behind Kim. Kohles is tied at 11 under with Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (67) and Chandler Phillips (65).
"Obviously not as good as yesterday, but yeah, still played just fine," Kohles said.
Phillips had an impressive eagle on the par-5 12th to go along with four birdies. Grillo had five birdies and a bogey.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, making his debut at the event, fell off the pace a little. He had been tied for fifth at six under coming into the day, but he fell into a tie for 13th at seven under with his one-under 70.
Karl Vilips (69-75) and Cam Davis (71-73) - the two Australians in the field - both finished at two over and missed the cut.
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