For about 58/60 of his cycle, Si Woo Kim was good. So let’s start with the biggest majority.
He was fine with playing teammates Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, and he was good with their conversation, which seemed to be so good that he said he couldn’t share what was said, and he was going to leave it at that. He said: “But it was fun. He was great, too, with the TPC Craig Ranch, in McKinney, Texas, which is near Kim’s home, and he was great with the event, the Byron Nelson sponsored CJ Cup, which supports Kim. “So it all feels at home and it feels comfortable,” he said.
He was good on hole 1. Birdie on a 6-foot putt. And hole 3. Birdie again, on a 17-footer. And hole 5. Birdie again, after nearly getting home on the par-5 in two. And hole 6. Birdie again, after dropping the wedge to 4 feet. And hole 7. Birdie again, after rolling in a 19-foot putt. And hole 9. Birdie again, sixth of nine, after landing just over the green twice on the par-5.
Then nine came. A lot of good.
Birdie on 10, on 17-footer. Birdie on 11, after sticking the iron to 2 feet. Birdie at 12, after hitting 5 feet from the green on the par-5. Birdie on 14, after making an 8-foot putt. Birdie at 15, after hitting his shot from 3 to 8 feet, though Kim said he felt good. “One of the boys was sneezing when I threw back,” he said, “so I stepped back and hit the wrong shot, and it went straight.” By this time, people were starting to talk about the 59, which only 14 players in PGA Tour history have accomplished, or the 58, shot only by Jim Furyk. Hell, if Kim bogeyed his last three holes, he could shoot a 57.
“I was playing there before,” Scheffler said, “I felt like I was hitting all my shots 15, 20 feet and Si Woo was hitting all his shots to like 8 feet or closer.
“Yes, it was fun to watch.”
Kim divorced 16 years. But he made 17 birdies, which was good, and so was the putt. From just over the green and 16 feet, Kim bent right to left. Perhaps the most interesting statistic of Kim’s round is that he only took 20 putts. He put himself on the makable list, and he made putts – and when he was on the green, like he was 17, he made those, too.
He went on to 18, where a par would give him a 59. From the tee, he found the fairway. Good. That was stroke 56.
From 200 yards, the 57 stroke went 215 yards, and sailed over the green.
Adrenaline, he said. After 17 years, he admitted that he dreamed of a 59, although he said that he preferred a 6-iron over a 5-iron.
“I think it was pumping a lot,” he said of his heart. “So it went a lot further than I thought.”
Stroke 58, from over the green, came up too short. Kim said she spun it a lot.
He was 18 feet short of 59.
