Tom Kim ignites International Team hopes with epic day at Presidents Cup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Trevor Immelman says the kid is just wired different.

So he wasn’t surprised to learn Tom Kim admitted he was thinking about what his celebration might look like before hitting his 10-foot birdie effort on Quail Hollow’s 18th green on Saturday afternoon at the Presidents Cup.

The 20-year-old’s belief is so high, (or if you ask Xander Schauffele… the scar tissue he holds is so minimal) – that Kim was literally wondering how he might top the bellows he provided earlier in the round during his many clutch moments.

The Korean rookie did not disappoint. When the putt dropped he gave a series of epic fist pumps and roars and bounded into a chest bump / hug with playing partner Si Woo Kim that might leave a mark when this is all over.

“I was looking over that putt, and I wanted it more than anything in the world. I would have done anything for that to go in,” he said.

“I'm just trying to bring positive vibes and try to get the team going and just give momentum to the team. To beat a team like that today, I feel like tomorrow we're going to have a lot of momentum.”

Kim had clinched his second point of the round for the International Team to spark an afternoon rally. After halving the Foursomes in the morning 2-2 his International side won the afternoon Four-balls 3-1 to cut the dominant U.S. advantage to 11-7.

The Kims officially won 1-up over the previously unbeaten Schauffele / Patrick Cantlay team and earlier he had teamed with K.H. Lee in Foursomes to take down world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 2 and 1.

“He's been such a tremendous gift to our sport. He has an ability to be a global superstar, this kid. We've seen he has the game. But what I've learned about his personality and his heart and what he stands for this week, man, I am a huge fan,” International Captain Immelman beamed afterwards.

While the putt was epic, Immelman was also quick to point out just how impressive the shot to get him there was. With his playing partner in dense trees and his own ball a long way from the green, Kim came up clutch.

“He's about 240 yards out. He's probably 60 yards behind his opponents. He's over the ball. I look back, I see the who's who of American golf in golf carts behind him,” a clearly proud Immelman said.

“I see Thomas, I see Spieth, I see Finau, I see Homa, I see Morikawa, all of them sitting on carts 15 yards from him. And this kid pures a 2 iron to 10 feet and makes the putt…that shows some guts.

“I've been in a few moments like that in my career. There's some turmoil going on inside in those moments. You're excited, you're anxious, you're nervous. You got some belief in there. There is a lot going on, man. And he pulled it off… we were damn proud of him.”

Kim’s finish overshadowed plenty of other highlights, including the fact he eagled the par-4 11th hole in both sessions. In the morning he dropped a putt from 36 feet before upstaging himself with a curling 54-foot, 6-inch bomb in the afternoon.

It was all music to Immelman’s ears who only met Kim a little over two months ago during a practice round at The Open Championship. But while they lacked history, Kim made up for lost time and incredibly forced his way on to the team a few weeks later by winning the Wyndham Championship.

“I've become such a huge fan of this kid… I met him on the fourth hole at St. Andrews and immediately he made an impression on me,” Immelman continues. “We kept in touch since then, and he's just wired different.

“I know how much this week has meant to him. I know how much he wanted to make this team because from that moment that I met him and I gave him my number on that fourth fairway, he was texting me pretty much every day… I’m excited to see what he brings tomorrow.”

We all are.