Kid Kim runaway winner in TPC stunner
Youngest champion at 21 takes unofficial fifth major and three-year Masters ticket
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA.— Si Woo Kim of South Korea became the youngest winner of The Players Championship with a game and nerves well beyond his 21 years.
On a TPC Sawgrass course where anything can go wrong without notice, Kim was the only player to go bogey-free Sunday and closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in golf’s biggest tournament this side of the majors.
He also managed to take all the suspense from the TPC Sawgrass.
All that could stop him was the final two holes, when Kim had a two-shot lead and faced a tee shot to an island green, and then a closing hole with water all the way down the left side. Kim hit the 17th green and two-putted from 45 feet, and he smashed another drive right down the middle.
Ian Poulter, who only two weeks ago was spared his full PGA Tour status because of a clerical oversight, was the only player to seriously challenge Kim. He pushed his approach to the 18th so far to the right that it caromed off hospitality tents and bounced off a cart path into a palmetto bush. He took a penalty drop, then hit wedge over the trees and nearly holed it, tapping in for bogey.
Poulter, who had gone 39 holes without a bogey until a crucial one at No. 12, closed with a 71. He tied for second with Louis Oosthuizen (73). Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished nine strokes back, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was 11 shots back and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished 9-over.
Even though Kim only hit eight greens in regulation, he went six consecutive holes on the back without facing a par putt longer than two feet. Kim bumped a fairway metal to just more than three feet on the final hole and rapped in the par putt to being the celebration.
“I still can’t believe I’m the champion, and I’m the youngest champion,” Kim said. “I’m looking forward to working hard from now on.”
Kim said he wasn’t nervous because of his victory last year in the Wyndham Championship, which gave him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. This victory comes with perks beyond the $1.89-million (U.S.) first prize. He now gets a fiveyear exemption on the PGA Tour, and a three-year exemption to the Masters.
The previous youngest champion of The Players was Adam Scott, who was 23 when he won in 2005.
Kim becomes the second player from South Korea to win The Players Championship, joining K.J. Choi in 2011.
“From that moment, I was dreaming that I really want to be in this tournament,” Kim said through a translator. “And I’m very glad I could practise with him. He gave me a lot of advice. That’s why I could do well.”
Just over four years ago, Kim came to the U.S. to play the final version of PGA Tour’s qualifying school. He earned a card at age 17, but he could not become a PGA Tour member until he turned18 the following June. That card effectively went to waste, and Kim spent the next two years on the developmental tour until earning his card back to the big leagues.
Now he’s here to stay for at least the next five years, and based on his game, probably much longer.