Tom Kim burst onto the scene as one of the brightest stars on the PGA Tour, and after a brutal season of disappointment, the South Korean is edging back into form
Tiger Woods is a big fan of Tom Kim.(Image: Megan Briggs/TGL/TGL via Getty Images)
Tom Kim is confident his game is back on track after suffering a dramatic downturn in form on the PGA Tour this season.
The charismatic South Korean has shown himself to be among the most promising young talents on tour over recent seasons, but it has been a chastening year for the 23-year-old.
Kim already has three PGA Tour wins to his name, but his form deserted him after a T7 finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. Kim has not had a top-10 finish since, but there are promising signs at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where Max Homa has also shown flickers of a revival after a brutal year.
READ MORE: Tommy Fleetwood’s opinion on Bryson DeChambeau clash after new Ryder Cup footage emergesREAD MORE: WNBA players have clear opinions on Cathy Engelbert’s Finals press conference
Kim holds a share of fifth place at the Country Club of Jackson after a six-under-par second round in Mississippi. He is three shots adrift of 36-hole leader Garrick Higgo.
Kim’s loss of confidence has seen him slide from just outside the top 10 to No. 86 in the world rankings, but at the midway point in Jackson, he feels he is trending upwards.
“I’ve just fundamentally gotten a lot better. I think mentally I’ve gotten a lot better, a lot clearer of what I need to do, how I need to do it, which I think is really big,” he said.
“And I think kind of the end of the year to right now, I was just kind of building. It’s hard when you don’t have momentum going and then it’s not as bad as it is, but mentally you have scar tissue on certain shots, and the confidence goes away.
“It’s a big mental game. When you’re not confident about yourself on the golf course, you’re not going to hit as good a shot as you would normally be able to. After the [FedEx Cup] season got done, I think I saw everything more clearly, how I needed to get it done.
“Ever since the last putt dropped after the season, I’ve been working towards that, and it’s been building blocks every week until today, and as will progress to next year.”
Kim’s season started brightly with strong showings at Pebble Beach and the WM Phoenix Open. He also earned huge praise from Tiger Woods, who got a close look at the South Korean’s skills as teammates in TGL.
READ MORE: Phil Mickelson told Greg Norman exactly what he thought of him after being removed by LIV GolfREAD MORE: Greg Norman opens up on problem that ‘hurt’ him the most at LIV Golf
“The kid’s a stud,” Woods said. “He’s young, fearless, and has so much potential in the game of golf. It’s gonna be fun for him to showcase not only his tremendous talent but the personality that we know on tour and that we enjoy.”
It seemed unlikely that such a pronounced loss of form would follow, and as the difficult weeks started to chain, thing spiraled.
“It’s hard. When you’re not playing well, you just have to kind of play events. You don’t get to take time off and then reflect and keep going. You actually have to keep playing even when your momentum is not as well,” Kim explained.
“But mid-course, mid-year I just told myself, you know, once this year is done I get to really see myself, and I’ve made a few changes, and as those changes were made, I got to see bits and pieces kind of come together. As time kept going and as I kept working, everything just is slowly coming back together.”
