CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two months ago, Tom Kim joined the PGA Tour as a special temporary member in a quest to earn his card for the 2022-23 season.
Last month, he claimed his first win on Tour at the 2022 Wyndham Championship and started to grow in popularity in the golf world, largely due to the origin of his name stemming from the TV show, Thomas the Tank Engine.
This week, the 20-year-old South Korean is hitting pure 2-irons under immense pressure, walking in clutch putts and providing some much-needed juice to an International team looking to make Presidents Cup history.
And you thought you had a good summer.
Kim has been praised all week long by his International teammates and captains for his youthful exuberance and talent, and on Saturday he was the catalyst for the change in momentum at Quail Hollow Club that saw the worldwide all-stars split the morning foursomes and earn their first win of the week in afternoon four-ball to bring the overall score to 11-7 in favor of the U.S.
Presidents Cup: Sunday pairings, tee times
“But when it comes to Tom Kim, you know, this young kid has burst onto the scene in the last six months, and it has been such a tremendous — he’s been such a tremendous gift to our sport,” captain Trevor Immelman said of his rising star. “He has an ability to be a global superstar, this kid. I know he has the game. We’ve seen he has the game. But what I’ve learned about personality and his heart and what he stands for this week, man, I am a huge fan.”
Kim was victorious in both sessions, first taking down the struggling American pairing of Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns in foursomes, 2 and 1, alongside K.H. Lee. He then teamed up with Si Woo Kim in the first match of the afternoon and took down the previously undefeated pairing of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele after stuffing a 2-iron to 10 feet and burying the birdie putt on the final hole to win, 1 up.
The heart of the @IntlTeam: @joohyungkim0621 #PresidentsCup || #IntlTeam pic.twitter.com/b5GugWlVoh
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 25, 2022
Kim not only wanted that moment on the 18th green, but he was ready for it, celebration and all.
“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?'” he said with a smile. It’s a miracle he didn’t have a wardrobe malfunction, seeing as he’s already split his pants not once, but twice this week.
“I mean, in tournaments, I would never, ever shout this loud or go this crazy,” Kim explained. “But I’m just trying to bring some good energy to the team. You know, that’s all I can do. We’re behind a little bit. So I’m just trying to bring positive vibes and try to get the team going and just give momentum to the team.
“To beat a team like (Cantlay-Schauffele) today, I feel like tomorrow we’re going to have a lot of momentum going in.”
And the Internationals will need every bit of that momentum if they are to win on American soil for the first time and complete the comeback, which would be the largest in the event’s 28-year history.
“Job’s not done. We’ve got a job to do tomorrow,” Kim said of Sunday. “We’ve got a great group of guys, and we believe. I think that’s the biggest thing. No one really believed in us, but we believe in ourselves.
Kim takes the stage once again at 1:50 p.m. ET Sunday for his singles match against fan-favorite Max Homa. Talk about an encore.
