Opinion | Tom Kim poised to go places with Presidents Cup the next stop after living his PGA Tour dream
- The highly talented South Korean 20-year-old with an easy demeanour and carefree approach has taken the world of golf by storm
- After becoming second youngest winner on Tour, Kim is hoping to ‘bring that young energy’ for International Team at Quail Hollow Club
The Tom Kim express finally ran out of steam after a whirlwind joyride which lasted nearly two months and ended at his dream destination – the PGA Tour.
But for the 20-year-old South Korean phenom, this is just the beginning of an exciting journey ahead, with the Presidents Cup being his next port of calling.
Born in June 2002 as Joohyung Kim, the highly talented youngster with an easy demeanour and carefree approach has taken the world of golf by storm after first leaving his mark by winning multiple times in Korea and across Asia in countries such as Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
It somewhat mirrored his adolescence – his family moved around and lived in Australia, China, the Philippines and Thailand, as his father, Chang-ik Kim, was a professional golfer before becoming a coach.
Kim is among the rare few Koreans who hold an English name, which he picked up at a young age after watching Thomas the Tank Engine, a television show based on a British children’s book series. He loved Toy Story too, especially the character Buzz Lightyear – but somehow, Buzz Kim didn’t sound as quite as good as Tom Kim.
“It’s just me being stubborn. Like, you’re supposed to let your parents name you and I was like nope, I’m going to name myself Thomas. I loved the show as a kid. Apparently, I really loved the train,” Kim said.
