Tom Kim is making his Presidents Cup debut roughly 90 minutes where he notched his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. It’s a week that saw Kim open with a quadruple bogey and then play the final 71 holes in 24 under — an insane run that locked up his spot on the International team.
For Kim, good vibes are everywhere this week in Charlotte. Quail Hollow Club isn’t Sedgefield Country Club, but there’s something about North Carolina that seems to bring out the best in Kim’s game.
“[The Presidents Cup is] in North Carolina so it’s very close to where I won,” he said. “That’s why I felt like it was a great venue for me because it brings back good vibes of when I putted really, really well.”
Kim isn’t kidding when he says he “putted really, really well.” He led the field in putting during his win, picking up more than 12 strokes on the field with a Scotty Cameron TourType Timeless GSS. He’s hoping for a similar performance this week at the Presidents Cup.
But hoping and wishing don’t always guarantee you a good week on the greens. To channel those good Carolina vibes, Kim chose to change the SuperStroke Traxion Tour 2.0 grip on his putter to a color that should get the crowds going. Some know it as “light blue” or “baby blue,” but in North Carolina, it’s simply known as “Carolina blue” — as in the official color of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
“It was getting old so I had to change my colors, and it was apparently the North Carolina kind of famous color,” Kim said. “So it’s going to be good vibes and hopefully, you know, the crowds were amazing that week so I know it’s going to be crazy this week as well.”
When you’re the away team, it’s always advisable to play to the crowd and get them on your side. Rocking a grip with a familiar color is one way to do just that.
“It’s in North Carolina,” Kim said. “I have good vibes here. I’ll bring those good vibes.”
Kim and the rest of the International team will need all the good vibes they can get if they hope to upset a heavily-favored American side.
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