If you’re not a New England Patriots fan, this reference may go over your head — Tom Kim is impacting golf the same way Bailey Zappe is impacting Boston-area football, the people have the fever.
Over the last few months, Kim has become a household name thanks to a ridiculous win at the Wyndham Championship (he began the tournament with a quadruple bogey), an electric performance at the Presidents Cup and another victory at the Shriners Children’s Open.
He’s quickly risen to No. 15 in the world and is set to contend for another title this week at the CJ Cup in Ridgeland, South Carolina.
Among all the Tom Kim-fever affected fans is world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who had some glowing things to say about the 20-year-old phenom.
“I think that the journey or the rise that Tom’s been on over the last few months has been incredible,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “He finished second at the Scottish Open, I think, and then winning the Wyndham and starting the way he did and winning in the style that he did was, I think it made everyone really take notice of the talent that he has.
“And then I got to play a nine-hole practice round with him in Delaware a couple of weeks after that, which was fun to just see him play in person.
“And then I was watching the Presidents Cup a lot. I think there’s a lot more Tom Kim fans in the world because of the Presidents Cup, right? He was really fun to watch, he showed a ton of emotion, he played great.”
McIlroy, Kim and Rickie Fowler are set to play the first two rounds together at Congaree Golf Club this week, with their first round getting underway Thursday at 10:20 a.m. ET.
CJ Cup: Thursday tee times, how to watch
As Kim waited for his turn at the podium, he took the mic and had a question for the four-time major champion.
“Rory, I have a question for you. What’s it like having so much success as a young player? Coming out and many years on tour, how do you manage all that?”
“I didn’t have as much success as you’re having at such a young age,” McIlroy said. “Like I think when you start to have success at a young age, you’re going to — I think the biggest thing that I realized is managing your time. You’re going to be pulled in so many different directions.
“You’ve got one, two, three, four, I can see five sponsors on you at this point, right? So it’s just trying to manage your time to realize what got you to this position, right? Why are you a two-time PGA Tour winner, why are you such a great player? And it’s the time that you put into it and it’s the practice, it’s not losing sight of that.”
“That’s the one thing I would say is just managing your time and not forgetting why you’re in this position and why you’re so lucky to get to play with me the next two days.”
Rory McIlroy gave Tom Kim a hug in the media centre at Congaree jsut now and Rory told him "I was screaming so hard for you at the TV" when Tom Kim drained that birdie putt to win his Saturday fourballs match @PresidentsCup with Si Woo Kim to beat Schauffele + Patrik Cantlay
— Evin Priest (@EvinPriest) October 19, 2022
The next few days should serve as another great learning experience for Kim, who currently sits fourth in the FedEx Cup standings.
McIlroy is both the defending champion and betting favorite (+700) and enters the week in fantastic form. After winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, the Northern Irishman made three starts on the DP World Tour, finishing inside the top five in all three events.
Going back to the Masters, McIlroy has grabbed nine top fives in his last 14 worldwide starts (including two wins).
Not bad.
With a win Sunday, McIlroy would overtake the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.
What would it mean to him?
“I think if I get back to No. 1 this week, it’s like my ninth time getting back,” he said. “It sort of illustrates you can have your runs and you can stay there, but I think the cool part is the journey and the journey getting back there. It’s sort of like a heavyweight boxer losing a world title and it’s a journey to get that title back.
“I feel like that’s the cool part of it and that’s the journey that I’ve sort of been through over the past 12 months.”
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