After matching his career-best score in a major competition with a four-under 66 on Thursday to share fifth place in the opening round of the PGA competition, Korean sensation Tom Kim is once again showcasing his heritage.
Three-time PGA Tour winner Kim, 21, has had a difficult season with just one top-10 finish after 13 starts. However, a nearly faultless round at Louisville, Kentucky’s Valhalla Golf Club offered hope and assurance that better times are on the horizon.
Fantastic. I had a pretty good, solid performance. Kim, the highest-placing Asian through 18 holes, stated, “Just to kind of get things going, second major championship of the year, and definitely put myself in a good position and just going through the same game plan for tomorrow.”
Following a record-breaking nine-under 62—the lowest score in the history of the PGA Championship—last week’s runner-up in the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele leads by three over Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala, and Mark Hubbard, all of whom posted 65s.
The only other Asian player to break par was 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who opened with a 70. Major newcomer Kim Seong-hyeon shot a strong 69. Sixth on the FedExCup points list, Byeong-hun, shot a 71 that included two birdies against as many bogeys.
Tom Kim, who placed T8 and T2 at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, respectively, last season, is quickly becoming a well-known name atop major championship leaderboards in a city well-known for horse racing and the Kentucky Derby. In addition, he fired 66s in the third round of the U.S. Open last year and the last round of the Masters Tournament this past month.
On the first hole of the day, he made a 21-foot birdie, and on the eighth, he added another. Then, over a four-hole stretch, he closed the gap on the leaderboard with a flurry of three birdies, erasing a lone bogey on 14 with a last birdie from five feet on 17. He hit 13 fairways with excellent driving all day long, and he finished seventh in Strokes Gained: Putting thanks to his accuracy with the putter.
“I simply carried over my strategy into the back nine and created some favorable circumstances for myself. made a few solid putts upon entering. The PGA Championship has been extremely, really solid overall, according to Kim, who has missed the cut in his last three trips.
Not all of it is happiness. Many people notice that I grin a lot, but believe me—it’s not always that way. However, I simply try to put on a happy front and do my best.
Even at his early age, Kim is fully aware that in order to regain his best form and become the fourth youngest player in PGA Tour history, he must persevere and follow his own path. Kim was the youngest member of the World Golf Hall of Fame to accomplish the same achievement, only being surpassed by Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith, and Tiger Woods.
“More expertise. Having more scar tissue makes you a tougher player, and I’ve been hitting some excellent shots lately. Kim, who finished T30 at the Masters last month, said, “I just haven’t really seemed to get things going, but to do this in a major championship shows me a lot more about myself and gives me more confidence.”
He shown tenacity by beginning his day in the afternoon wave and staying within striking distance of a highly skilled Schauffele. “The greens really get banged up when you’re playing in the afternoon on a full field. That’s one of the benefits of soft greens in the morning, I believe, especially when they’re rolling really well. The men that did shoot below par in the afternoon, in my opinion, did a great job of pursuing it, Kim added.
