PGA Tour player, Tom Kim has issued a statement on social media following reports that he broke his locker at the DP World Tour's Genesis Championship on Sunday - moments after losing in a playoff to fellow South Korean, Byeong Hun An.
The 22-year-old was in contention for the 13th professional title of his career at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea but missed a birdie putt to close the deal in regulation and ended up in a playoff with An.
Following a perfect drive down the par-5 18th, Kim made a mess of the remainder of the hole and walked off with a bogey as An carded a birdie to secure the title.
In the hours after, Korean outlet, Yonhap News Agency first reported that Kim had supposedly damaged his locker in an act of apparent frustration, with the door ultimately coming off its hinges. A photo provided to Yonhap showed the door to Kim's locker resting against the gap it should have been covering.
However, the Korean posted on Monday to clarify the situation and explain what he felt had occurred.
🚨😬🇰🇷 #PHOTO — After losing the Genesis Championship in a playoff yesterday, frustrations boiled over for Tim Kim, breaking a locker room door. Kim apologized to the KPGA and has offered to pay for the damage but disciplinary action is also being considered, per @YonhapNews pic.twitter.com/nJvQVQLgX4October 28, 2024
Kim said there had been a lot of "false reporting" about the incident and felt it was important that information came directly from him. He said: "After the loss, I was frustrated, yes absolutely... but I can assure you with absolute truth that I had no intent of damaging any part of the locker - not a single bit."
In Yonhap's original report, it had said Kim could have been facing disciplinary proceedings over his actions, but the three-time PGA Tour winner denied those claims and insisted the matter had already been dealt with.
He continued: "I addressed it with the DP World Tour and the KPGA right after the incident saying that the door came off. We had to fully pull it off due to safety reasons, I also let them know that I was willing to pay all expenses for the damage.
"There has also been speculation about disciplinary action. I spoke to the tour immediately after the incident. After my apology and offer to pay damages, the matter was considered closed."
Kim concluded his statement by thanking all those who had reached out to him with messages of support and apologized "with all my heart" to anyone that he may have let down.
Later - in a phone interview with Golf.com - Kim’s manager, Ben Harrison, said that although he wasn't in the room at the time, a colleague of his informed explained what went down.
Of Kim, Harrison said: “He’s been portrayed as someone that smashed up a locker and basically stormed out like a baby. That’s not what he did.
"He broke the locker because he opened it too — he didn’t take a club and smash it up. He literally held the handle of the locker, opened it super-aggressively and it broke a hinge.”
The young star has faced something of a frustrating year by his standards, failing to win for the first time in a season since turning pro in 2018. Kim has now lost two playoffs in 2024, with defeat to Scottie Scheffler at The Memorial marking his first.
As well as being unable to chalk up another victory, Kim has also been involved in a couple of other unsavoury moments this season. Recently, he was embroiled in a row over unsportsmanlike conduct at the Presidents Cup in which he accused Team USA of "cursing" at the International players.
That particular incident arrived a couple of days after Kim and playing partner Sungjae Im were criticized for a disrespectful act of their own, walking away from the green before their opponents had finished playing.
And prior to the Presidents Cup, Kim had damaged a green with his putter following an angry outburst at the FedEx St Jude Championship shortly before his PGA Tour season ended in painful style - he finished 51st and missed the BMW Championship.
The Korean is not expected to be in action again until the Grant Thornton Invitational just before Christmas, where he will partner LPGA Tour star, Jeeno Thitikul at Tiburon Golf Club and The Ritz-Carlton between December 12-15.
