Tom Kim concedes it wasn’t his finest moment, not by a long shot.
The 22-year-old South Korean and three-time winner on the PGA Tour missed a 5-foot birdie putt at the 12th hole on Sunday at TPC Southwind in the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. That’s no sin but what he did next — slamming the ground in frustration with his putter and leaving a sizable dent in the putting surface — is an unforgivable offense in the world of golf. It was childish behavior from a player who knows better and disrespectful to the remaining competitors who still had to play the hole and potentially putt through the ugly mark he made. To make matters worse, Kim didn’t bother to repair the damage to the green, reportedly leaving his caddie, Paul Tesori, to clean up after him.
Kim’s antics were captured on video and the backlash came fast and furious with multiple posts on social media going viral. Outraged golf fans — some comparing his behavior to past outbursts by Sergio Garcia — voiced their disappointment at the popular Kim, who was the breakout star of the 2022 Presidents Cup. With his reputation being sullied, Kim issued an apology on Monday night to his Instagram stories seeking to clear up the matter and explaining he wasn’t aware of the incident.
Tom Kim just cannot do this. Brutal look.
Damaging a green is near the top of golf offenses.
— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) August 19, 2024
“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.”
Kim’s year ended on a sour note. Not only did he miss the birdie putt at No. 12 but he finished with three sixes on his card, playing the closing stretch in 5 over and dropping from No. 46 to No. 51 in the FedEx Cup and being eliminated from the playoffs and failing to secure his status for all the Signature events in 2025.
Kim’s tough year includes his temper tantrum at No. 12 and failure to repair damage to a green but at least he had the self-awareness to own up to his actions and promise to do better. Lesson hopefully learned.