5 things you didn’t know about Si Woo Kim
1. He’s the youngest ever winner of the Players
It’s not even close, actually. Adam Scott previously held the title and he practically had grey hair – weighing in at 23 years, eight months and 12 days when he lifted that nice bit of crystal. Players champion Si Woo Kim doesn’t even turn 22 until the end of June.
2. He’s the youngest player ever to qualify for the PGA Tour
Are you sensing a theme here? Kim was so young, in fact, he couldn’t officially take up his card. He finished tied 2oth in qualifying in 2012 – aged 17 years, five months and six days.
PGA Tour rules state you can’t be a member until you are 18 and Kim had to wait until the following June to play a full schedule.
Kim is actually a Q-School master. He’s been there three times and earned a card on each occasion.
3. Tiger, Sergio, Jordan… and Si Woo
That’s pretty good company, right? All are players who had won twice on the PGA Tour before they were 22.
Kim got his first victory at last year’s Wyndham Championship when he set a whole host of records.
He was the youngest winner on the PGA Tour that season, the second youngest in tournament history and tied the 72-hole record on a 21-under 259. He was helped by a second round 60.
4. He’s yet to make the cut in a major
All right, he’s only played in two – the PGA Championship last year and the Masters. He found Magnolia Lane a bit of a struggle. Rounds of 75 and 81 saw him finish ahead of only six players.
Missing cuts has been a theme of Kim’s PGA Tour season. He’s failed to make the weekend at seven events this year and has withdrawn from another four.
He won’t need to worry about his status any time soon though.
Still riding his Wyndham exemption, winning the Players buys him five-years of grace on the PGA Tour, a three-year invitation to the Masters, US Open and Open as well as a one-year trip to the PGA Championship.
5. He’s in the Army now?
With a rather belligerent dictatorship on their doorstep, South Korea enforces conscription.
All men, aged 18 to 35, must sign up for two years of mandatory military service and, usually, there are very few exceptions to that rule. Kim has yet to enrol.
Sang-Moon Bae, twice a winner on the PGA Tour, is one of Kim’s countrymen who has had his career ‘interrupted’ by a stint in the forces.
What’s in Si Woo Kim’s bag?
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
