This isn’t a slight in opposition to Tom Kim, however the actuality is that coming into Monday’s TGL match, all of the hype and dialogue surrounded Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and rightfully so.
Woods and McIlroy co-founded TGL, have gained 15 and 4 majors, respectively, and are arguably the world’s two hottest gamers. So when Woods’ Jupiter Hyperlinks Golf Membership teed off in opposition to McIlroy’s Boston Frequent Golf Membership, all the chatter surrounded these two superstars, not on the 21-year-old Kim.
However Kim turned the star of the present slightly rapidly.
On the second gap, Kim wanted to make an 8-footer for par to halve the opening — an important second contemplating that Boston threw down “The Hammer,” which doubles the worth of a selected gap. So, if Kim made his putt, he and his crew would halve the opening, but when he missed, Boston would choose up two factors as a substitute of the standard one.
Instantly thereafter, Kim held his finger as much as his ear and enticed the gang, identical to he has executed on the final two Presidents Cups.
His ardour didn’t cease there.
On the ninth gap, with the match tied at one apiece, Kim confronted one other pressure-packed putt, this time from eight ft. With the shot clock winding down, Kim stepped up, made the putt, and walked it in earlier than his ball descended into the underside of the opening.
Kim then marched over and commenced to entice the gang, radiating his great vitality throughout the SoFi Middle.
“Say it louder!” Kim mentioned. “What’d you say!?”
No one else has come near matching Kim’s ardour to date. Nevertheless it’s clear that the 21-year-old South Korean loves crew play and can do no matter it takes to assist his aspect win.
His crew relied closely on him too. Outdoors his clutch putts, Kim’s greatest swing of the day got here on the par-3 twelfth gap throughout his singles match in opposition to Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. He got here inches away from recording the primary hole-in-one in TGL historical past.
His tee shot settled two ft from the opening, giving his crew the lead for the primary time in TGL historical past.
We noticed Kim’s emotion and robust play on the Presidents Cup, and now, golf followers are seeing it firsthand in TGL matches, which is a delight.
For TGL to achieve success, the league wants gamers to invoke extra emotion, ardour, and humor, simply as Kim has executed in his debut match. And regardless of being within the shadows of Woods and McIlroy, Kim will stroll out of the SoFi Middle Monday evening because the star of the present — one thing that appeared unimaginable contemplating the stature of those two legends of the sport.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. Observe him on X @jack_milko.
