Tom Kim shoots 64 in return from injury, but his pants steal the show

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Tom Kim is back in action at the FedEx St. Jude Championship after incurring a Grade 1 ankle tear in July at The Open Championship.

But it was a different aspect of his ankles that had golf viewers abuzz during the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude — a pair of three-quarter cuffed slacks.

What was the motivation behind the bold statement — perhaps a modern take on the knickers that graced the game in the 20th century? Or more airflow to the ankle?

"It was just, I didn't want to get myself dirty. Just don't like it. I've had a really bad week once this year, so just trying to stay away from it really," Kim said after his round.

"It was just kind of how I did it back in the old days. I didn't have unlimited pants, so I had to make sure I was able to use those pants for a really long time, so I had to make sure they stayed really clean... that's the thing, like I didn't bring 10 pairs of pants. I'm traveling for a few weeks, so I try to make my travel pretty light.”

The style choice certainly did not hinder the two-time TOUR winner's 6-under 64. Kim birdied seven holes, which included putts from 11 feet on No. 12, 17 feet on No. 18 and 31 feet at No. 4, where he tied Jordan Spieth for the lead. He hit 13 greens in regulation and needed only 24 putts. Kim's lone bogey came at the par-4 seventh, his third-to-last hole of the day, after missing it in the right rough, where he fell into a tie for second.

"Yeah, played really solid for the first 13, 14 holes. Kind of had a few hiccups coming in, but no, I played pretty good today, and definitely played pretty stress-free for most of the way," explained Kim.

TPC Southwind was hit with a deluge of storms and rain on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving the course rather slick. That did no favors to Kim’s ankle, which he is still nursing back to health. He spent the last three weeks doing “a lot of icing, a lot of rehab.”

“You have to use a lot of your muscles around your legs to be able to push through, and it's just kind of not what I need, to be honest,” he said, admitting the ankle felt “a little naked” without any brace on. “I would like to be able to walk on kind of flat areas and dry, just take the stress off my ankle.”

He will continue to be cautious throughout the rest of this week. He still needs “a few weeks to fully heal,” and it already kept him from defending his maiden TOUR title at the Wyndham Championship last week. He doesn’t want to miss any time during the Playoffs – especially considering his performances before the injury. He tied for sixth at the Genesis Open before tying for second at The Open Championship, his best finish in a major.

"It was really hard just to be able to sit at home and kind of just watch on TV. Would have loved to be able to compete. But I had to make sure I wasn't going to do anything bad to my ankle, make it worse,” he said.

He will also spend the rest of his time in Memphis hoping to keep his pants mud-free. Notably, this is not the first – or even second – situation that Kim has incurred with his pants. The saga stretches back to the 2022 Presidents Cup, where Kim was the heart and soul of the International Team. His zeal was perhaps too much for his pants to hold, which ripped prior to the start of the second Four-ball session.

The pants struck again in the opening round of the 2023 PGA Championship. After Kim hit his ball across the creek into the mud on the sixth hole at Oak Hill Country Club, he took off his shoes and socks and rolled his pants past the knee before wading in. Despite the precautionary measures, he immediately sank waist-deep into the mud, necessitating another bath — this time in the creek — to wash off.

Kim is making his second FedExCup Playoffs appearance. The 21-year-old burst onto the scene in 2022 with a solo third in the Genesis Scottish Open and picked up his first title shortly after at the Wyndham Championship. He finished T13 at last year's FedEx St. Jude Championship, but his run ended after a T54 at the BMW Championship, where he narrowly missed out on the top-30 cutline as No. 35 in the FedExCup standings.

Despite his ankle injury this year, Kim carded his best finish in a major at Royal Liverpool and recorded five other top 10s this season. He enters the Playoffs as No. 14 in the standings, in prime position to make it all the way to Atlanta for the TOUR Championship.

Viewers can expect to see more of the three-quarter cuffed pants accompany his FedExCup journey.

“A lot of people seemed to have a lot of laughs on it, but I just thought it was pretty convenient,” said Kim, who had ditched the wet clothes by the time he talked to the media after his round. “I chose the wrong color, obviously, for the day, but my caddie Joe actually said he doesn't really care what I do as long as I make birdies and eagles, so it kind of worked,” remarked Kim.

Let the birdies and eagles ensue.