SEOUL — Just three years ago, budding South Korean PGA Tour star Kim Joo-hyung attended the Genesis Invitational, held at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles, as a fan, starstruck when he saw his idol, Tiger Woods, walk down the stairs near the putting green.
This week, Kim will be making his tournament debut at Riviera, not just as any player but as one of golf’s brightest young talents. And to boot, Woods, the host of the tournament, will make his PGA Tour return.
“It’s pretty special for me. Obviously, once I got on tour, he wasn’t playing much, so the opportunity to be in the same field again is really cool,” Kim said at a pretournament press conference Wednesday (local time) at Riviera. “Tiger’s back, and it brings a lot of great things for the PGA Tour and for us players. Even I as a player, we all enjoy watching Tiger play.”
Kim earned himself a place next to Woods’ name in the record books last October, when he won his second career title at Shriners Children’s Open. It made Kim, 20, the first player since Woods in 1996 to win twice on the PGA Tour before turning 21.
“I feel like it’s really hard to have an accomplishment near Tiger’s name because if your name’s near it, it means you’ve done something pretty special,” Kim said. “Just starting out for my career and to do that right away, it’s a special thing for my heart. I’m very grateful for it, but I’d like to have a lot more next to his name, but one day when I do retire, I’d have a pretty good career if I’m kind of near him.”
Kim had spent earlier years on the Asian Tour and burst onto the scene by winning the Wyndham Championship in August 2022 as a nonmember. He also made his mark at the Presidents Cup in a losing cause for the International Team, which was followed by the second title at Shriners.
Kim said he wants to continue to pick up lessons along the way.
“Obviously, a win per year on the PGA Tour is a great, great year, but I’m just trying to learn right now,” he said. “I just haven’t seen all the courses yet, so I don’t know which week is going to fit me or not. All these big events, I would love to get myself in contention, just keep learning, keep experiencing, keep growing as a player.”
For this week, Kim said he was particularly inspired to play in front of a sizable Asian community in the area.
“I’m just trying to show them that it’s really possible and dreams do come to reality if you do work hard,” Kim said of representing Asia. “All you’ve got to do is just keep trying, and it’s going to happen to every one of us as long as you just try to achieve it.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency