ESPN
ROCHESTER, NY — Tom Kim walked off the back of the ninth green in Oak Hill looking cool.
He could see the cameras waiting. He shook his head, still in denial.
“I hope there are no pictures of that,” he said.
was wrong. Likes, truly mistake. on ESPN Coverage of the PGA Championship was heading into the commercial when Kim appeared on television in a muddy, fuzzy mess, emerging from a swamp with a slick of sludge covering his body. The first day of the sophomore year yielded a lot of intrigue, but this was a new high point. Screenshots and videos of Kim’s adventure instantly spread across the Internet.
After Kim signed his scorecard, he emerged from the tent and was greeted by a media official, who requested comment from a small contingent of excited reporters. shook his head; It was all set, thanks. What was there to talk about? He shot three over 73. It was cold. And he was not interested in explaining why his pants were folded to the knees. But soon several bystanders made it clear that this was something.
Reality was starting to set in, so Kim reluctantly headed in ESPN Setting up the interview to speak with Michael Ives, he carefully pulled out his phone as he went.
“Oh, no,” he said, reacting in real time. “everyone Known?! “
Then explain what happened.
Less than an hour before that, Kim had blocked his tee shot on the par-4’s fourth putt, sending him straight off the fairway into the adjacent swamp. It seems likely that his ball found a watery grave, but as he approached the drop zone he was given some hope. Spotters told Kim that his ball crossed the water and landed in the mud in the middle of the swamp. It looked like a long shot – but if it was live, maybe it would have been playable?
The observers saw two balls in the mud, though they suspected they had been there for a while. Cady Kim’s Joe Skofron tried to dissuade him. It wasn’t worth it. Kim considered that advice but ultimately rejected it. Like any golfer looking for his ball, he was feeling optimistic. what if…
Things didn’t go well.
“As soon as I got in — it was kind of sketchy,” Kim said. ESPN.
There was no ball. There was no hope. Suddenly Kim felt one foot slip, then the other, and he fell deeper and deeper into the mud. He was suddenly scrambling. Ask for help from Skovron. But what was he supposed to do?
“I said, ‘Are you sure you can’t move?'” Skovron recounted after the tour on his way to the parking lot. “Then I We could have stumbled too, and we would have been in for a disaster. There was no way, I couldn’t get in there. I took two steps and that was as far as I could go. Next step I’ll be there.
“I was like, Uh, he better be able to get out. And he got out.”
“I had to use every part of my body to get out,” Kim explained. “I’ve had better days.”
What happens when you suddenly get lucky in the middle of a major tournament? It’s not a question we’ve seen answered particularly often. But Kim was walking through a stream, which gave him an idea.
He added, “I was wet enough and thought I might just go in the water and take a shower, which I did.”
Bathe in live TV. That helped remove some of the muck. It didn’t help his cold, so he ditched his shirt for a jacket tucked in his golf bag. (They didn’t even bother to pack extra socks).
But there was good news. Kim took a touchdown and went down three punts from 252 yards, which is quite an epic bogey. His book on yardage has somehow survived, too. He caught Birdie at No. 7 but settled on par, then followed that up with two more. His 73 left him a T63 on a tough day at Oak Hill. He was proud of the effort.
“I got stuck in there, especially after what happened there,” he said. Then he appealed to the crowd.
“I hope everyone at home knows it’s a major tournament, I try to do the best I can and every shot counts. I definitely went all out and went through it all. It didn’t really help. Tried to end on a positive note.”
“It was a great experience.”
If Kim was surprised, his caddy certainly wasn’t. Skoffron spent a decade on repeat with Ricky Fowler, after all. He tested internet speed and access.
“I just thought it was going viral,” Skovron said. “Of course. There are cameras everywhere.”
He trembled as he wandered into the night. It’s become a cool adventure, swampy or not.
“Okay played,” he yelled again.