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The last few months have been quite a ride for Tom Kim, let alone the last two weeks.

It was only six months ago that Kim, a 20-year-old born in South Korea, had no status on the PGA Tour. He accepted Special Temporary Membership after the Open Championship, and then won the Wyndham Championship in August, securing his Tour card through 2024 and earning a berth in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, where he made it to the BMW Championship.

Kim is now ranked 22nd in the world, and became a breakout star at the Presidents Cup last week, where he won hearts on both sides of the equator with his infectious enthusiasm and clutch play, ultimately finishing with a 2-3-0 record.

On this week’s episode of Subpar, Kim described what it was like to approach the 1st tee on Sunday for his singles match with Max Homa — complete with shades featuring the International team logo! — to hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.

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“It was definitely special,” Kim began. “I brought the shades because, I was like, man, I gotta bring something new today. What’s gonna be new, what’s gonna be fresh? I thought of just wearing the glasses, going up the cabin. There was a lot of fans that go underneath the cabin. So, I wanted to see that. Damn, Tom’s bringing something new today. And Camilo [Villegas] was like, you should wear these on the first tee. It’s gonna be fun. And I was like, you’re right, that’s a good idea.”

After a last-minute search for the glasses before Kim’s tee time, they emerged, and it was showtime.

“I put them on and everyone went nuts,” he said. “I thought it was definitely something that I might look forward to doing it again. Especially on Sunday. It’s kind of a different vibe for a singles match. I wanted the American crowd on the 1st tee to just kinda like me a little bit.”

Mission accomplished, Tom.

For more from Kim, including what it was like to attend his first party(!), check out the video below.

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The post GOLF’s Subpar: Tom Kim explains his epic walk out on Sunday at the Presidents Cup appeared first on Golf.

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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by International Team member Tom Kim who explains what inspired his walk out on Sunday at the Presidents Cup.

—

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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by International Team member Tom Kim who talks what it was like attending this year’s Presidents Cup after party.

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Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

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Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by International Team stand out Tom Kim who shares how Tiger Woods inspired his celebration at the Presidents Cup.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Every pro knows Sam Reeves. And Sam Reeves knows every pro. 

Jordan Spieth smiles in his direction. Billy Horschel shouts his way as he walks across the Quail Hollow range. 

“Heyyyy, Sam-bo!” 

On and on from the Americans at the Presidents Cup. Of course, had he been closer to the International gang, it would have been much the same; Adam Scott, in an earlier profile of Reeves by Michael Bamberger for GOLF.com, said he “learned how to be a human being from Sam.” Think about whom you can say that about in your life. 

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Fred Couples, an assistant U.S. captain, now walks by, he spots GOLF’s Dylan Dethier, says, “You have to talk to this guy,” and he and Reeves walk over to us. It’s at this point, where you should take a minute and read the Bamberger piece; Reeves has lived a life. Now in his mid-80s, he made his money in the cotton business, according to the story; his house guests, at his home alongside Cypress Point, have included Peyton Manning and Tom Brady; and he was the best man in Butch Harmon’s wedding. So, yes, Freddie, please bring your friend over. 

For a half-hour, as Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas hit, we talked. Brady came up; Reeves had pictures and video of him in his phone. The conversation then turned to Tom Kim. It was Sunday, and about 18 hours earlier, Kim had given us a moment with his winning putt/fist-pump/hat flip on the 18th. Reeves added this, twice:

He’s Rory McIlroy revisited. 

Scott had told Reeves the charisma is no act; Kim’s just like that. The swing is right, too. Reeves pointed out that McIlroy’s American-soil tournament breakthrough also came at Quail Hollow, at the Quail Hollow Championship in 2010. Maybe the hyperbole is getting lost in the moment. Maybe it isn’t. But this week, we may have just seen the birth of a global golf superstar. 

With that, here are 29 other observations from the week that was in Charlotte, which ended in a Team USA 17.5-12.5 win. (They played for 30 points, so that seems right.) We’re doing our business today at Suffolk Punch, a wonderful restaurant and brewery that opened at 7:30 a.m. (!), and we’re feeling good. 

2. Let’s stay with Kim, and why observers like Reeves are speaking so reverently of him. We’ll start with how he’s making his money, his golf. But not the putt on 18 on Saturday; the short before it. This is a take, but you can maybe nerve in a 10-footer — and it’s harder to hit to 10 feet, from 233 yards out, where the heart is really moving. I’ll remember that shot. But I think more daggers are on the way. 

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3. Then there’s just Tom, the 20-year-old. There are the fist-pumps and the shouts and the waves to the crowd and his caddie picking up his ball and his caddie picking up his putter. (This week, the bagman was Joe Skovron, Rickie Fowler’s old looper.) And we love it all. Here’s my hope: It never dies. It stays authentic. That’s almost as hard as hitting the shots described in observation No. 2. To have some fun with words, golfers can be like diet sodas, and Tom Kim is a shot of whiskey. And we don’t want the bartender to cut us off.      

4. One more Kim note. On 18 on Sunday, after his singles loss to Max Homa, another hero this week, several folks got in his ear. Horschel, who didn’t play Kim in any match, was one of the first to greet him on 18 green, and he leaned in for a good minute. Trevor Immelman, the International captain and another hero, told him this, which was captured by the PGA Tour’s social media team: “You’re a freaking champion. You’re a champion. You believe in yourself. You’re good. We’re getting there.” It’s very telling that other pros want him to succeed.   

5. Speaking of Horschel, I followed him Friday, in his first-ever round in a team event, after being passed over multiple times in a 13-year career. I’ll remember this most. On 14, after his tee shot on the par-3 went short and right, he one-handed his follow-through and was laboring, before Davis Love III, the U.S. captain, left-hand slapped him on the rear. Two shots later, he made a 17-footer to halve the hole, and four holes later, he and partner Homa won their match.   

6. Speaking of Homa, he’s ascending. Four wins since last February, including last week, at the Fortinet Championship. A 4-0 mark this week, which included his own moment, or moments — a putt and a fist-pump on the 17th green on Friday, and the same combo a hole later. Where does he go from here? What’s the ceiling? Is this a heater? Or is the start of a five-, 10-year run? For him, the Masters can’t come soon enough.  

7. Speaking of Masters champs, Immelman lost, but won the week. He was invested. This quote, from his press conference on Sunday night, will stick with me. 

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Though you are obviously reading this and not listening, imagine each syllable being emphasized, and all of it coming to a crescendo at “joke.” 

“This week, you know, we were in a tough spot on Friday,” Immelman said. “We showed a lot of guts to fight back. At some point, I don’t know about you guys, but at some point this afternoon, I thought there was still a chance.

“And when you consider that we were 8-2 down on Friday evening, this team is no joke, and I’m sick and tired of it being spoken of as a joke.

“We love this event, and we love our team, and we cannot wait to run this back and have another shot.”

8. A note on Immelman and the mood he created. Late Sunday afternoon, Jim “Bones” Mackay told me while walking to the cup presentation on 15 green that the U.S. team could hear the International’s music and celebration from their team room on Saturday night, after the INT’s won three afternoon points. The groups were about 75 yards away from each other. 

9. The Suffolk Punch SPB Breakfast Bowl — with two farm eggs my way (scrambled is my way), Anson Mills cream cheese grits, smoked bacon, sausage patties, shredded cheddar and grilled sourdough bread — is one of the better breakfasts I’ve maybe ever had. 

10. A half-hour before his singles match on Sunday, Cantlay 9-and-8’ed a Chipotle burrito on the range, then won. Incredible.  

11. Speaking of food, you could smell the barbecue, from local shop Noble Smoke, as far as a par-5 away. Heavenly. 

12. I consider myself somewhat of a K.H. Lee No. 1 sexiest golfer expert, so I had to ask the tough question earlier in the week. 

If you’re not familiar with the conversation of K.H. Lee No. 1 sexiest golfer, here’s a brief recap. In 2018, during the Korn Ferry Tour’s Portland Open, Lee said on a video that he had “several goals in my life.” One you’ve heard before: “The first is to become the No. 1 golfer in the world.” Fair enough. But the second was a bit more, shall we say, risque. 

“And the second is to become the No. 1 sexiest golfer in the world.”

OK then. There’s more. Like I said, I’ve been following this. About a year ago, the PGA Tour then helped their man, when, during the CJ Cup event, they labeled his placard on the range: “Sexiest Golfer,” had him nestle up next to it and shot a video that they shared on their social media channels. Good stuff all around, though Lee admitted in a story published by the Tour that he wasn’t sure he’d ever reach his goal. His reasoning was sound. 

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“Being sexy means to be a muscular guy,” he said. “It’s in my dream but not quite possible in reality. I want to be muscular, but I enjoy eating so much. For example, I try not to eat dinner if I have a big lunch, but when dinner time comes, I am usually hungry again. I will work out hard, but I will eat hard as well.”

But on Wednesday, during Lee’s media availability, I still had to ask. 

Me: “K.H., there was a moment a few years ago, brought up again, about a year ago, with you wanting to be the No. 1 sexy golfer. Who is the No. 1 sexy golfer on your team?”

Lee: “Should I say me? I hope so. Adam Scott. We’ll go there. Adam is very sexy. And then Camilo [Villegas] is sexy, too. So top 10, me?”

I was stunned. 

Me: “You’re top 10, not top 5?”

Lee: “Close.”

I’ll take it. 

13. The course was closed to fans last Monday, which helped amplify a practice round between friends Thomas and Spieth. With no one around — it really was just me, the players, caddies Mackay and Michael Greller — the vibe was carefree, and I wrote about our four-plus hours together here. But another takeaway was Zach Johnson and a scene on 15 green, which is actually 18 during other tournament play. (They moved up the hole to make sure most matches would get to the tricky, creek-on-the-right-side par-4.) Having carted over at this point, Johnson put together a game, with some cash on the line, where, from 40 feet away, you had to walk with your eyes closed and try to drop your ball in the hole. If you’re wondering about the atmosphere he’ll create in the team room next year when he takes the U.S. captain’s chair for the Ryder Cup, this is it. 

14. I followed Cameron Young on Thursday, his team-event debut. And on shot one on tee 1, before 2,500 sweaty fans, he bombed one over the trees on the right, and his tee was in his hand before his ball was on the ground. Killer. The internet tells me that he has that dog in him.         

15. On a 90-plus-degree day, Young also looked like he wasn’t sweating. No beads on his neck. Arms. Nothing. Wow. And how?

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16. Say what you will about the Saturday dramatics and some spirited back-and-forth on Sunday, but this was another American win, the 12th in 14 playings. Toss in that the Internationals have been gutted due to LIV Golf — players who have left the PGA Tour for the upstart, Saudi-backed series have been suspended, and the Presidents Cup is a Tour-backed venture — and the scene is tough. We’re now halfway through our story, so let’s look then to the future. First, here’s Immelman’s take: 

“We have a system that we like and a plan and a strategy, and it feels like to me, you know, this was an important week for us just to just lay a couple more bricks in this house that we’re trying to build,” he said. 

“We’re here for the long run in this event. We’re going to win this event. So we’ll keep building. We’ll keep fighting. At some point, we’re going to win.”

17. The odds are on staying the course; Friday, Saturday and Sunday were ticket sellouts, money was made and sponsors were likely happy, though we’d strongly argue moving singles away from King NFL. 

You won’t see a PGA Tour-LIV Golf team event, though I checked players’ temperatures on the subject early in the week. You also won’t see LIV players in the event, though Immelman at least inquired about one. The International team doesn’t require PGA Tour membership. So when Louis Oosthuizen resigned his and joined LIV, Immelman revealed that he did check to see whether he could pick the South African. 

His telling of the explanation he received was vague. And he understandably paused before doing so. 

“My understanding is that he made particular announcements and allowed himself to be used in different marketing campaigns and announcements once he was not given the release from the PGA Tour, and he did all of those things before he resigned his membership,” Immelman said Tuesday. “So there were still particular infractions there.”

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Then there’s adding women. 

Golf Digest wrote a nice piece making the case, and you can read it here. This weekend, I messaged LPGA pro Gemma Dryburgh for her thoughts, and she was very in. 

“I definitely think the girls would be interested in it,” she wrote back. “I think it would be great for the event, too. I’d love to see it happen.” 

Stay tuned. 

18. The Sycamore Brewing Haziness IPA is one of the best juice bombers I’ve maybe ever had. And Harris Teeter grocery store here has one of the best brew selections I’ve maybe ever seen. 

19. A word on the build-out on 1 at Quail Hollow. Good stuff. But this is about the volunteer on 1, about 100 yards from the tee, on the left side. On Tuesday, when the ropes were down, she asked every person with that look on their face and a phone in their hand if they wanted her to take a picture; she was doing the asking. Great stuff. She took mine, too.  

20. Another volunteer shout-out. On Friday on 4 tee, a caddie gave one a used piece of gum to toss into a trash bin. Gross. 

21. When I can, I watch and listen to the fans, and I easily laugh to most cracks, But the winners of the week was the group dressed in a Canadian flag spandex get-up that, shall we say, you shouldn’t look down at. Their mission, too, it seemed, was only to get the attention of Mike Weir, an assistant on the International side and, yes, a Canadian. It worked on Saturday, and he laughed.  

22. Horschel’s hair was also a shouting point among the galleries. Understandably so. It was locked into place and majestic. 

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23. At the Presidents and Ryder Cups, the wives and girlfriends also walk the fairways. What do they talk about? I overheard Katherine Zhu, the fiancee of Collin Morikawa, talking with International Team WAGs about their trip to what was described as “Canadian Sea World.”

24. Baker Mayfield was out at Quail Hollow. On Friday, the Carolina Panthers quarterback was walking with Max Homa’s wife, Lacey. He obliged a boy for a selfie. Another fan asked him if he was going to beat the Saints. “That’s the plan,” he said. The Panthers won, 22-14.  

25. Seth Curry, he of the jump-shooting and golf-playing Curry family, was out at Quail Hollow. On Sunday morning, he was at the range. Webb Simpson, an assistant captain, talked basketball with him; he asked how his team, the Brooklyn Nets, were looking, and whether he “ever had any desire to play for the Hornets,” Charlotte’s team. Smylie Kaufman, a pro on hand to do broadcast work, asked for jump-shot tips, and he gave Curry golf tips. 

26. I was kinda shocked Michael Jordan wasn’t out at Quail Hollow. Love had introduced him to golf when both were at Chapel Hill back in the day.  

27. On Sunday night, I wrote about the funniest moments from the Americans’ press conference, which you can find here, but maybe the best came from the Internationals. Before any questions were asked, Sweet Caroline was playing over a speaker, and Sungjae Im was singing the “Bah, bah, bah” part. Si Woo Kim and I laughed. 

28. The Cookout big double burger tray, with cajun fries and chicken nuggets, is one of the best late-night, post-work meals I’ve maybe ever had.      

29. Kevin Kisner, though, as he did earlier in the week, was at home in front of the mics. Though he was asked just one question after the victory, the exchange was a winner. 

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“I saved the best for last,” the reporter started. “This one’s for Kis. Being one of the more experienced players on the team, you know, can bring its advantages on the course. But do you feel it brings an advantage or disadvantage for tonight’s festivities with these younger guys?”

“It’s hard to hear,” Kisner said. “Can you speak up, please?”

“Yes,” the reporter said. 

“I just need the last part,” Kisner said. 

“OK. Do you think it brings, your experience, do you think it brings an advantage or disadvantage for tonight’s festivities with these younger guys?” the reporter asked again. 

“My experience can ultimately win in this scenario,” Kisner said. “There is nothing that any of these can do that can hang with me tonight, I promise you.

“I have never seen a better display of golfers and a worse display of partiers, and I am the best partier on this board. Amen.

“That’s why they picked me. I got half a point, but I brought the fun.”

30. Here’s proof I was there. 

If you’re interested, I also compiled takeaways, thoughts and observations this year from the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship, and they can be found below:

Masters
PGA Championship 
U.S. Open
Open Championship

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chug, a-chuga, chug … 

It’s Day 3 foursomes here at the Presidents Cup, and Tom Kim is leaving the station. His International team is down big to the U.S. side, 8-2, but he’s about to get rolling. On 10 at Quail Hollow, he drops a 10-footer for birdie to move him and partner K.H. Lee even with Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, though he starts his walk off the green before his ball is finished rolling. He points at caddie Joe Skovron, Rickie Fowler’s old bag man, to pick it up for him, Jordan Spieth-style. 

Chug, a-chuga, chug, a-chuga … 

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Kim pulls his team ahead a hole later. The wheels are moving. On 11, he eagles on a 36-footer, this time dropping his putter before the ball reaches the hole. He double fist-pumps, shouts, “Come on!” and walks to 12. Here, Skovron grabs his putter. 

By now, you’ve figured out our format here. Trains. You see, Joohyung Kim goes by Tom, after Thomas the Tank Engine, the children’s cartoon, so we’re telling our story full train style. It’s a writing technique. Though it’s in his honor. And honestly, Kim’s Saturday felt like, well, a train that just kept rolling and rolling and … 

Chug, a-chuga, chug, a-chuga, chug … 

Kim and Lee win 2 and 1, though Kim isn’t done; captain Trevor Immelman throws him right back into the mix, in afternoon fourballs, against American studs Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. His whistle blows. On the 1st tee, Kim wants noise from the 2,500 seated around him. They oblige — and he hooks his ball left, only for it to kick back right. He laughs with partner Si Woo Kim. “I think he’s my new favorite player,” analyst Paul Azinger says on the NBC broadcast. 

They’re going shot for shot when we hit 11. Kim’s accelerating now. There, he slams home a 54-footer, screams again and fist-pumps again, but now he tosses in a slap to his chest. “How can you not love this man right here?” analyst Justin Leonard says on the NBC broadcast. 

We’re on the par-4 18th, and Kim/Kim and Schauffele/Cantlay are knotted. Kim, the train one, hits his tee shot down the tracks. On shot two, from 233 out, he shapes his ball to the left side of the green, and it feeds back toward the hole, to 10 feet. Immelman, walking with the match now, whispers, “Please be good.” It is. 

CHOO, CHOO!

Kim curls in the left-to-righter.

Get off the tracks!  

Before his ball drops, in front of about a five-deep crowd around the green, he turns around, flings his white hat to the ground and shouts in the direction of his teammates, who are camped out at the back of the green. Kim fist-pumps. He hugs Si Woo Kim. He looks for anyone to hug. He shakes hands with Cantlay and Schauffele. He does multiple interviews to the left side of the green. He signs three of the same hat for a fan. He sticks around to see teammates Cam Davis and Adam Scott win 1 up, and the Internationals shrink their margin to 11-7. 

Afterward, in the player press conference, he’s cool with playing Justin Thomas in Sunday singles. He ends up being paired against Max Homa.   

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But back to Saturday. He’s back in the station now. A reporter asks him for the best part.

“Last hole, without a doubt,” he says. “I was looking over that putt, and I wanted it more than anything in the world. I would have done anything for that to go in. And I had the whole team behind me.

“But I think for me and Si Woo, I think that birdie — that eagle on 11 was that — we were 2 down, and we just came off a bogey on 10. And, you know, I tried to really bring some energy. We got some momentum there.

“But without a doubt, 18 was without a doubt probably the highlight of the week so far for me.”

There have been a few. For one, he’s here; after a whirlwind few months, which have included a win last month at the Wyndham Championship, he was picked, at the age of only 20. He went through the press conferences; this website wrote its headline of him: “After turning down LIV, Tom Kim is quickly becoming a PGA Tour superstar.” He played Thursday, but lost. He played Friday, but lost. He won twice on Saturday. 

A reporter then asks:

“Did you want that moment at the end?”

“Oh, 100 percent,” he said. “I was already thinking in the back of my mind, if this goes in, what am I going to do? How am I going to celebrate?”

Wait, what?

He laughs, too. 

“That’s if it goes in, right?” he continues. “I did stay in the moment, but that was definitely on my mind. And it was an amazing feeling for that to go in because the team was behind, and they were watching. 

“And, yeah, I mean, I wanted it more than anything in the world.”

CHOO, CHOO!

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The International team began Saturday play at the 2022 Presidents Cup on the precipice of inglorious defeat. They desperately needed a spark to get back in this thing, and it may have come in the form of rookie and rising superstar Tom Kim.

Kim has seen his fame grow during his breakout year on Tour in 2022, which culminated with his first Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship in August. He’s also been one of the few bright spots on the International side in Quail Hollow this week.

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Most of the attention, though, has been centered on off-course antics (including funny press conferences and at least two incidents of ripped pants). But on Saturday, Kim started to show off on the course, especially once play reached the back nine in his morning match.

With Kim and partner K.H. Lee 1 down to the fearsome American duo of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns at the turn, Kim sank a 15-footer for birdie on the par-3 10th to get the match back to all square.

But the real heroics came at 11.

Putters

Lee drove the green at the short par-4, leaving Kim with a lengthy 33-foot for eagle. Kim hit the putt and watched as it turned from left to right and started tracking directly toward the hole. It dropped in, of course, but Kim didn’t see that part. Before it fell, he had already turned his back on the hole, dropped his putter and raised his arms in the air in celebration, before quickly walking off the hole completely.

His fellow competitors were left standing on the green, and Kim’s caddie was left to gather his red-hot putter as the Internationals took a much-needed 1-up lead in the match. They eventually went on to defeat Scheffler and Burns 2 and 1.

You can watch Kim’s putt below.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s early Thursday afternoon on the practice range at Quail Hollow, and Tom Kim is doing jumping jacks.

It’s not clear why he’s doing jumping jacks. He has been warming up for the better part of an hour now, and energy has not been a concern. Kim, the International team’s self-professed “jokester,” has been bouncing off the walls since he reached the practice range, trading laughs and excited handshakes with anyone who’ll listen. Assistant captain K.J. Choi stopped by in an effort to imbue a few last words of wisdom. He walked away from Kim giggling. Then came assistant captain Camilo Villegas. Same result.

Other than the jumping jacks, the warmup is flawless. Kim has a gorgeous, simple swing. His blade slices through the ground with both grace and gusto. His butter cuts could be served on sourdough.

One needn’t watch Tom Kim play golf for more than a few minutes to understand that he is bound for superstardom in today’s world of professional golf. His skills are too prodigious, his energy too infectious.

“You FEELING it yet?!” He half-yells at his new caddie, Joe Skovron, who can hardly suppress a laugh.

In a few minutes, Kim will begin the third match of the Presidents Cup alongside his fellow Korean countryman, K.H. Lee. Among casual golf fans, the Presidents Cup is Kim’s first opportunity to write his legacy. The youngest of eight rookies competing for the Internationals against a heavily favored American squad, Kim could force his way into the golf consciousness this week. That’s a massive opportunity and nobody, not even Kim himself, knows how he’s going to respond. Very soon now, he’ll have an answer.

But first he does 15 more jumping jacks.

Tom Kim’s arrival is still a shock.

Not just at the Presidents Cup, where the daring, fist-pumping 20-year-old has quickly found himself a beloved fixture of the International side. On the PGA Tour.

Most fans don’t remember the first time they met Tom Kim. It’s hard to blame them. When Kim walked into the press conference that marked his unofficial arrival to pro golf, he was far from the source of intrigue.

“We are setting the Asian Tour up as a powerful new force on the world golf stage,” Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf Investments said that day, announcing a $300 million investment in the tour on behalf of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Later, it would become clear that LIV’s interest in the tour was driven primarily by its hopes of spawning a rival golf league, using the Asian Tour’s guaranteed world ranking points presented to soften the risk for golf’s best players.

Tom — a name he adopted from his given “Joohyung” after the children’s character “Thomas the Tank Engine” — sat directly to Norman’s left during the press conference, but he didn’t have much to say.

“I think I was there because I just won the Order of Merit on the Asian Tour,” he says now. “It was kind of a spot I needed to fill.”

As the deeply talented, multicultural face of the Asian Tour, many assumed Kim was the rival league’s first target. He won’t say whether he received an offer from Norman, but his attendance in Quail Hollow fills in many of the blanks.

“I’ve always known I wanted to play on the PGA Tour. That was the main goal for me,” Kim said Tuesday. “To be honest, [at the time of the press conference] I didn’t have any status, whether it was the Korn Ferry Tour or the PGA Tour. It’s a crazy U-turn for me.”

A U-turn that has brought him all the way to the Presidents Cup after less than six months on the PGA Tour. Of course, some of that is due to an International team ravaged by defections to LIV, including the likes of World No. 1 Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann in the days before the rosters were finalized. But Kim deserves some credit himself after a rookie season that saw him land a top-25 finish at the U.S. Open, a third-place finish at the Scottish Open and, most notably, a season-ending victory at the Wyndham Championship. Just weeks after Kim clinched full status for the 2023 Tour season in Greensboro, he played his way into a Presidents Cup where, at 20 years old, he became the youngest player on either roster.

“For a guy like Tom Kim to be able to be hanging out with Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama in the team room last night, I mean, I wish you could have seen the kid’s face,” said International team captain Trevor Immelman. “It was just pure joy and excitement and anticipation for the week.”

“I can’t put into words, really, how pumped I am,” he said Tuesday, a dumbfounded smile spread across his face. “I’ve always dreamt of doing crazy fist pumps because it’s match play. So I’m really looking forward to it.”

It is difficult to pinpoint the moment when Tom the Tank Engine took over Presidents Cup week, but there is no question it’s happened.

The 20-year-old is the talk of the town in Charlotte, both among those on his team and those outside of it. Like on Tuesday morning, when Immelman was asked to choose a pickup basketball starting five for the Internationals.

“I kind of like little Tom Kim as a point guard,” Immelman said with a chuckle. “He’s got a fast mouth on him too, so he’s perfect for a point guard.”

Soon, Kim’s first few days around the International team had become the stuff of legend. He showed up for play in Charlotte with a Carolina Blue putter grip, a fitting nod to the region’s favorite color. After only two days together, seven of the Internationals’ 12 players voted him as the team’s biggest eater (including an emphatic vote from Tom himself). Later, a wide-eyed Kim admitted that he respects Jordan Spieth far too much to trash-talk him during competition, but Masters champ Scottie Scheffler is fair game because “he gives me a hard time.” On Thursday afternoon, Kim was the only member of the International team to beckon the crowd for more noise after his introduction on the first tee box (which responded with a few polite boos). Even, it turns out, Kim’s math skills have earned him a couple of laughs.

“We’re on 12 today, and he makes a mistake doing simple math there,” Assistant captain Camilo Villegas said. “So I look at the kid and said, ‘Tom, is that college math?’ He looks at me and goes, ‘Dude, I didn’t even graduate from high school.'”

Kim, for his part, has no defense. He turned pro at 15, and he’s been a goofball for far longer than that. This, he says, is who he’s always been.

“I just like to joke around a lot,” he said. “I’m lucky enough that they don’t give me shit for it.”

Success has come quickly for Kim, but ego hasn’t followed. His personality remains joyfully unbothered by the enormity of the life before him — as it should be, for a player still 10 months away from his first legal drink. It’s as if he doesn’t realize yet what everyone around him at the Presidents Cup has already accepted as fact: soon, he won’t be a stranger to anyone.

“Ohhh, I don’t know about that,” he says when asked if he feels like he’s being noticed more. “But it would be really cool. I still have a long way to go.”

For the first time all week, Tom Kim is alone.

It’s Wednesday afternoon at the Presidents Cup, and he isn’t just the last golfer standing on the practice green, he’s the last golfer for a few hundred yards in any direction. After a round in the morning and a spate of range time in the afternoon, he made it to the putting area with a head of steam. He’s been here ever since.

The problem at hand is his putting stroke, which seems to have fallen out of order. Kim is doing a “circle drill” — in which a player draws a five-foot circle around a hole with golf balls and putts until he has made all of them in a row. Most players use this drill to practice three-footers and finish it in a matter of seconds. Kim has been here for close to a half-hour.

Kim, it should be noted, is largely to blame for this endeavor. He has chosen to practice his putts toward a hole cut into the middle of a fierce slope … from six feet. His putts slide as far as they travel, zipping toward the hole at various speeds and directions, depending upon his location.

Impressively, Tom is making the majority of his putts, but he’s not making all of them, and that has him peeved.

“You’re kidding me!” He groans when one lips out to the left, ducking his head into his hands and pushing his hat over his head. Kim makes the game look effortless. It’s not.

Skovron, his new caddie, stops him.

“Not on a grade like this,” he says. “I think making half of them would be pretty good.”

Kim takes well to the coaching. He settles himself, takes a deep breath, and practices the putt one more time. This time, it lips in. A smattering of claps and hoots comes from off the green. Kim looks up, flashing a quick smile. He realizes, for the first time, there’s a crowd that’s gathered to watch him.

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The post Who’s playing in the Presidents Cup? Meet the U.S. and International teams appeared first on Golf.

The post Who’s playing in the Presidents Cup? Meet the U.S. and International teams appeared first on Golf.

The stage is set for for the 2022 Presidents Cup where 24 of the PGA Tour’s top golfers — 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world (except for Europe) — will meet for the biennial matches.

Due to the pandemic, this will be the first Presidents Cup since 2019, when the Tiger Woods-captained U.S. team narrowly edged the Ernie Els-led International squad with a miraculous come-from-behind win in Sunday singles.

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The U.S. team holds a dominating 10-1-1 record in the matches and most expect a similarly dominate performance with LIV Golf defectors being ineligible to play in this year’s event and taking the hardest toll on Trevor Immelman’s International team.

Without further ado, let us introduce you to the players who are playing this year.

United States Team

*denotes captain’s pick

Captain: Davis Love III

Love was a six-time member of the U.S. Presidents Cup team and compiled a 16-8-4 record in those matches. Love — who was born in Charlotte, N.C., home of this week’s host, Quail Hollow Club — won 21 times on the PGA Tour, including one major win at the 1997 PGA Championship. He also notably won the 2015 Wyndham Championship at the age of 51, becoming the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history. Love was an assistant captain on the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Presidents Cup teams and captained the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cup teams.

Sam Burns

Career Presidents Cup record: First appearance

Burns may have been overshadowed by close friend Scottie Scheffler in the early part of the 2021-22 season, but the Louisianan had a break out year himself, winning three times, including taking down Scheffler in a playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. This will be his first appearance at either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.

Patrick Cantlay

Record: 3-2-0 in one appearance (2019)

Cantlay had another solid year in 2022, winning once while defending his crown at the BMW Championship in Wilmington and teaming up with Xander Schauffele to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He played all of his matches in 2019 with Schauffele and figures to do so again. Cantlay was also very successful at last year’s Ryder Cup where he compiled a 3-0-1 record at Whistling Straits, the one tie coming in the only match he wasn’t paired with Schauffele.

Tony Finau

Record: 0-1-3 in one appearance (2019)

The big-hitting Finau had a slow start to the season before catching fire over the summer, notching five top-5s in a stretch of eight events, including back-to-back wins at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic in July. He somewhat surprisingly did not notch a win in his only Presidents Cup appearance in 2019. He only had one loss in four matches, however, and he’ll be looking for a new partner as both his partners from 2019, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau, are not playing this year. He’s picked up three wins in his two Ryder Cups in 2018 and 2021.

Max Homa*

Record: First appearance

Homa comes in as perhaps the hottest player in the matches. He won in dramatic fashion last week at the PGA Tour season opening Fortinet Championship, holing a chip shot from off the 18th green to win. He also finished a career best tied for fifth in the Tour Championship in his previous start. This will be his first team match appearance.

Billy Horschel*

Record: First appearance

If you were shocked to learn Horschel is making his first ever appearance in either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup this week, you’re not alone. Horschel’s career resume includes seven PGA Tour titles, including this year’s Memorial Tournament, and the 2014 FedEx Cup. He’s had a mixed bag of a season, missing four of last eight cuts on the PGA Tour, but with the win in Columbus sandwiched between two of them. He did earn a top 10 in his most recent appearance during his title defense at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship.

Kevin Kisner*

Record: 2-0-2 in one appearance (2017)

Kisner is the oldest player on Team USA’s roster and has become known as somewhat of a match play savant, including a win at the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and owning an undefeated record at the 2017 Presidents Cup. His best finish this past season was a second at — you guessed it — the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, but he did rack up five other top 10s. Kisner will also be looking for a new partner as he played with Phil Mickelson in all three team matches in 2017.

Collin Morikawa*

Record: First appearance

Morikawa came out just as hot as his first three years on Tour to begin this season with five straight finishes of T7 or better, but he fell back to earth a little toward the end of the year, his first on Tour without a win. Although he did lead the U.S. Open through 36 holes, he struggled Saturday and was out of contention by Sunday. The two-time major winner, who is still just 25 years old, showed better form at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August with a T5 finish, but needed to be one of Love’s six captain’s selections to make it to Quail Hollow. He led the U.S. team in qualifying for the Ryder Cup last year and went 3-0-1 at Whistling Straits, his lone tie coming in singles.

Xander Schauffele

Record: 3-2-0 in one appearance (2019)

Like Finau, Schauffele also had a strong end to the season, finishing in the top 20 in all but one of his last 11 events. Again, like Finau, he notched back-to-back wins at the Travelers Championship and Genesis Scottish Open. He also teamed with Cantlay for a team win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and figures to see a lot of his close friend whom he has a 4-2-0 record with in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup matches.

Scottie Scheffler

Record: First appearance

Scheffler has come a long way from being a captain’s selection at last year’s Ryder Cup. The Texan notched his first four PGA Tour wins last season, including a major victory at the Masters, and earned the World No. 1 ranking. While he didn’t come away with the FedEx Cup title, PGA Tour Player of The Year honors are a decent consolation — as well as the $5.75 million he got for finishing T2 at East Lake. He went undefeated, going 2-0-1 at Whistling Straits, teaming with Bryson DeChambeau in two four-ball matches. He also beat Kisner at this year’s WGC-Match Play.

Jordan Spieth*

Record: 8-5-1 in three appearances (2013, 2015, 2017)

After missing the 2019 matches, Spieth is back on the U.S. team at just the right time. With stalwarts like Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed absent this year, Spieth and Justin Thomas are the only players with multiple Presidents Cup matches under their belt coming into the week. The 29-year-old notched a win at the RBC Heritage this season and finished a respectable tied for 13th in the FedEx Cup. He carries a career 16-12-4 record in U.S. team cup matches and played with Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed in all of his partner matches in 2015 and 2017. At last year’s Ryder Cup, he paired most often with good buddy Justin Thomas.

Justin Thomas

Record: 6-2-2 in two appearances (2017, 2019)

Thomas may not have met all of his preseason goals, but he notched 11 top 10s last season and his second major title at the PGA Championship. He brings with him the most impressive U.S. team match record, going 12-4-3 across two Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups. In his two previous Presidents Cups, he paired with Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Daniel Berger, all of whom are not playing this week. He figures to play more with Spieth as he did twice at Whistling Straits.

Cameron Young*

Record: First appearance

Young had a debut season to remember, notching six top-three finishes and was one of two rookies to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Those top finishes also include just missing out on the playoff at the PGA Championship by one stroke, and the memorable eagle finish at the Open Championship at St. Andrews to earn the runner-up spot.

International Team

*denotes captain’s pick

Captain: Trevor Immelman (South Africa)

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Immelman is the youngest captain in International team history at just 42 years old. The South African is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, including one major, holding off Tiger Woods to win the 2008 Masters. He’s also picked up six victories around the world on the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour. He’s a two-time veteran of the Presidents Cup and served as assistant captain under Ernie Els in 2019. Many fans will know him now for his broadcasting as he is expected to take over as the lead analyst for CBS’s golf coverage, following Nick Faldo.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout* (South Africa)

Record: First appearance

Bezuidenhout had a solid rookie year, making 20 cuts in 24 starts on the PGA Tour with 10 top-25 finishes. He’s perhaps better known in Europe, having a breakout year in 2020 while notching three victories including the Alfred Dunhill Championship. His best finish on the PGA Tour in 2022 was a T2 showing at the John Deere Classic and he advanced to the second FedEx Cup Playoff event at the BMW Championship. He’s one of five Presidents Cup first-timers selected by Immelman.

Corey Conners (Canada)

Record: First appearance

Conners played his way to the Tour Championship for the third time of his career thanks to 20 made cuts in 25 starts and four top-10 finishes. One of those top 10s came last month at the BMW Championship where he finished in T5, but he missed the cut last week in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Fortinet Championship. The Canadian has one win under his belt on the PGA Tour, coming at the 2019 Valero Texas Open.

Cam Davis* (Australia)

Record: First appearance

Davis notched five top-10s in 25 starts last season on the PGA Tour. His best golf came toward the end of the season when he made his last 10 cuts in a row. His best year on Tour came a season ago when he made 21 of 26 cuts and notched his debut win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His cuts-made streak broke last week at the Fortinet Championship where rounds of 74 and 70 sent him to Charlotte early.

Sungjae Im (South Korea)

Record: 3-1-1 in one appearance (2019)

The iron man of the PGA Tour, nobody plays more golf than Sungjae Im. Im had another strong season on Tour in 2021-22, winning for the second time at the Shriners Children’s Open and finishing strong with three T2 finishes in his last five events, including at the Tour Championship. The World No. 19 will be heavily relied upon as one of just four veterans on the International team with Presidents Cup experience. All three of his partners from Royal Melbourne — Adam Hadwin, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith — are not on the team this year.

Tom Kim (South Korea)

Record: First appearance

Kim burst onto the scene in 2022, finishing third at the Genesis Scottish Open, seventh at the Rocket Mortgage, and then capturing his first win at the Wyndham Championship in August to secure his PGA Tour membership and even qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He was only a special temporary member when he won, but had earned enough points to get his full status for 2023. He’s now exempt through 2024 and he auto-qualified for the International team.

K. H. Lee* (South Korea)

Record: First appearance

Lee has two PGA Tour titles and both have come at the AT&T Byron Nelson. At this year’s tournament, Lee outdueled Jordan Spieth down the stretch to defend his title. The rest of his season wasn’t much to write home about, with almost as many missed cuts (7) as top-25s (8), until he used T20 and T5 finishes in the first two Playoff events to catapult his way into his first Tour Championship appearance.

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)

Record: 6-7-4 in four appearances (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)

Hard to believe the 30-year-old Matuyama is about to start his fifth Presidents Cup, but the Japanese star heads to Quail Hollow as the alpha of the International squad. It was another good year for the World No. 17 on the PGA Tour, finishing 11th in the FedEx Cup after winning twice, with one of those victories coming last fall in his home country at the Zozo Championship. Only one of his previous partners, Adam Scott, is on the roster this week and they haven’t played together since Matsuyama’s Presidents Cup debut in 2013.

Sebastián Muñoz* (Colombia)

Record: First appearance

Munoz hasn’t quite played up to the same level as he did in his breakout season in 2019-20 when he got his first win at the Sanderson Farms Championship and then went on to finish 8th in the final FedEx Cup standings thanks to a solid performance at East Lake, but his 2021-22 campaign was enough to earn a captain’s pick. He had two runner-up finishes on the season.

Si Woo Kim* (South Korea)

Record: 1-2-0 in one appearance (2017)

Kim was the only one of Immelman’s captain’s selections with previous Presidents Cup experience, winning a four-ball match and losing in foursomes and singles matches in New Jersey in 2017. That season was also the year of his signature win, The Players Championship. He won in early 2021 at The American Express, but has not played well as of late, only recording one top 10s in 21-22, last fall at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Both of his partners from 2017 are not on this year’s team.

Taylor Pendrith* (Canada)

Record: First appearance

Normally for a rookie, an injury can be devastating. Taylor Pendrith missed time between The Players in March and the Barbasol Championship in July because of a rip injury, but it didn’t stop him from earning nine top 25s in 16 starts. Since coming back from the injury, Pendrith finished worse than T13th once in six starts, including a tie for second at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a tie for eighth at the BMW Championship.

Mito Pereira (Chile)

Record: First appearance

Heartbreak at the PGA Championship overshadowed what was otherwise a very respectable debut season on the PGA Tour for Pereira. He opened the year with a solo third at the Fortinet Championship and had two other top 10s, including at Southern Hills. Of course his season will be remembered for the leading the PGA through 71 holes, only to hit his tee shot in the water on 18, leading to a double bogey and missing the playoff. Pereira was rumored to be joining LIV Golf, but reportedly is waiting to jump so he could play in the Presidents Cup.

Adam Scott (Australia)

Record: 16-22-6 in nine appearances

The 42-year old hasn’t missed a Presidents Cup since 2001 and is by far the most experienced player on either team, having more appearances than the entire International team combined and as many as the entire American team combined. His 10th appearance will break his own record for the Internationals. He also has a chance to tie or pass Ernie Els’ International record of 21 points this week. Aging like fine wine, the 42-year-old didn’t win on the PGA Tour this year, but only missed two cuts all year and had five top 10s. His back-to-back T5s to start the FedEx Cup Playoffs helped him play his way into the Tour Championship from outside the top 70 at the end of the regular season. Matsuyama is the only teammate his paired with before on the International roster.

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