Tom Kim’s divot incident, apology add context to nightmare finish

After he putted out at No. 18 for a double-bogey 6 that ended his season, Tom Kim turned and stared back at the lake that had sealed his fate.

“Just this year, man,” he said later, asked what had been going through his mind. “This year has been really tough for me personally.”

Tom Kim expects more.

That was the big-picture lesson from the 22-year-old’s 2024 PGA Tour campaign, which came to a nightmarish conclusion on Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Standing on the 16th tee at TPC Southwind he was projected to finish the week 46th on the points list, safely inside the top 50 spot he’d need to advance to the BMW Championship and earn spots in basically every big tournament next season. When he hit the 16th fairway he was left with just 200 yards to the green on a par-5 and was likely thinking about moving further up the leaderboard.

Instead he went the other way. Sloppiness ensued — two bunker shots plus a missed five-footer — en route to bogey 6. The next hole was more disaster: Missed green, two chips, two putts. After Kim pulled his tee shot on 18 into the water, he finished with a third consecutive 6. By day’s end that left him at No. 51, the odd man out, less than 17 points behind No. 50 Keegan Bradley.

“I was actually cruising,” he said wistfully, thinking back to his first 15 holes, which he’d played in four under par.

Kim had specific regrets. Leaving his first bunker shot in the bunker at No. 16. Missing his five-footer for par. Missing on the wrong side at No. 17. There are certain holes on the PGA Tour where you have to miss on the correct side; little misses can lead to big numbers.

The bogey at 16, after all, started with a flared 5-iron that left him in a tough spot in the bunker. The double at 17 started with a flared 5-iron into jail. “Another really poor missed shot, just anywhere left is fine and missed it right,” Kim lamented afterwards.

But as Kim was ruing his finish, a different moment was drawing the ire of golf fans on social media. At No. 12, before things had gone south, Kim had missed a short birdie putt. As he’d walked to tap in his par he’d slammed his putter into the green, apparently taking out his frustration on something that had wronged him. The broadcast showed that Kim’s putter slam left a gouge in the green, a visual that made every golfer wince.

Any player would be expected to repair such a mark before leaving the green; getting frustrated and doing something dumb is a core part of golf but doing your best to leave the course how you found it is, too. But Kim didn’t appear to fix the mark. Later, he explained he hadn’t realized what he’d done.

On Monday night, a day later, Kim posted a message to his Instagram stories, expressing regret and declaring he’d been unaware of the mark.

“Hi everyone. It’s been brought to my attention about my frustration shown yesterday on the 12th green,” he wrote. “I will never lie to my peers and fans because I have to much respect and gratitude towards them, I wasn’t aware that I had made that big of a damage on the green cause if I did I would’ve never just left without repairing it, but I was clearly wrong and will take full responsibility of my actions and will be better going forward. Thank you and I apologize again and thank you for your support throughout a tough year”.

The apology was a reminder that Kim expects more from himself as a person. The real-time frustration was a reminder that Kim expects more from himself as a golfer. There it was again — the reference to the “tough year.” It was telling that after the round, Kim seemed frustrated in a way that extended beyond the tournament.

“This season has just been — it’s just been like this,” he said. “I’ve played really good golf, and then had some tough finishes. I feel like 2024 has really kicked me in the butt.”

Kim wasn’t without optimism. His summer was sprinkled with moments of promise: T4 at the RBC Canadian Open, runner-up at the Travelers, T15 at the Genesis Scottish Open, eighth at the Olympics. That’s how he got close enough for heartbreak.

“I’ve gotten so much better,” he said. “I’ve fought really hard just to get myself many this situation. I was 90-something before we went on this run, and it looks like I’m going to miss by one. But it is what it is.”

It wasn’t the year he’d dreamt of. Kim had exited 2023 on a high note; he won the Shriners Children’s Open for the second consecutive year and, at just 21 years old at the time, became the youngest player to win three times on Tour since Tiger Woods. Expectations come with a comparison like that. Expectations come with being the star of an episode on Netflix’s Full Swing, too. External and internal. Golf fans expect a lot from Kim — but he expects far more from himself. It’s exhausting, trying to live up to those expectations. So at the end, Kim didn’t just sound frustrated. He sounded relieved it was over.

“It’s been a long road. Mentally I just don’t think I was sharp enough for these past few weeks,” he said. “I played nine weeks in a row. On my eighth week of it, I played in a final group holding the lead every day [at the Travelers], and then went in a playoff, and played the Olympics. I’ve been through a lot.

“51, 52, 50, it’s not going to matter. I’m just looking forward to getting some rest and getting ready for next year.”

There’s reason for optimism, and not just because Kim can take a few weeks off. The Presidents Cup is just around the corner, for one thing — the tournament where, two years ago, Kim announced his arrival. But even better is the fact that Kim is No. 18 in the world. No matter how much time he takes off this fall, he’ll very likely be in all four majors. And even if he drops a few spots, the top 30 in the OWGR get into the PGA Tour’s Signature Events. There’s more Tom Kim coming your way.

The good news? This time around he’s left himself room for improvement.