Tom Kim nearly missed final-round tee time at The Genesis Invitational

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Tom Kim was nearly late for his final-round tee time but avoided the two-shot penalty at The Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club on Sunday.

Already a three-time PGA TOUR winner at 21, Kim was scheduled to go off the par-5 first hole with Rickie Fowler at 8 a.m. Pacific Time but was not on the tee with time running out before the starter announced them.

The practice greens at Riviera wrap around the clubhouse, and Kim was on the green farthest from the tee as he talked golf with his caddie, Paul Tesori, both of them having lost track of time. That’s when someone notified Kim that he had one minute before the clock struck 8, at which point Kim began to run, darting across the practice greens as fellow players and fans parted to allow him through.

“We had 27 minutes to go when we first got to the putting green,” said Kim, who shot 69 to finish 5 under par. “And it felt like only 15 minutes had gone by. Then somebody said, ‘You have one minute before you tee off.’

“I was on the part of the green that was farthest away,” he continued. “And if I’m not there when we’re announced, it’s a two-shot penalty and I shoot even par today instead of 2 under. I made sure I wasn’t late, and literally 10, 15 seconds later he called the tee. I was fortunate. I’m never late for tee times.”

Not only has never been late, Kim said, but he is often overly cautious on that front.

“I’m always too early,” he said. “But we were so engaged in our conversation. I’d had a tough finish yesterday and we were talking about what we could have done better. I’m sure Rickie was like, 'Hmm, I wonder why Tom isn’t here?'”

With his heartbeat up, Kim hit what he described as a good tee shot off the first, even though it went into the left rough. He made par. His best result in five starts this season will remain his ho-hum T17 at last week’s WM Phoenix Open. Ranked 17th in the world and 69th in the current FedExCup standings, he’s off to a slightly slow start this season.

There was nothing slow about his start at Riviera on Sunday.