Tom Kim wasn’t all that at ease on a somewhat chilly Thursday morning at Congaree. He was about to play his first competitive round with world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, a played he admired enough to ask a cool question at Rory’s Wednesday press conference. More on that later.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous,” Kim said of his date with McIlroy and ever-popular Rickie Fowler for the first round of the CJ Cup.
Kim’s opening drive looked a bit nervy — waste bunker right of the fairway. His second came up well short of the green but he immediately displayed that wonderful short game and chipped to within 10 inches for a tap-in par.
Rory’s opening drive look just as nervy. Bit miss left but a great second and an easy two-putt par from 17 feet.
They were off and running and would each make three birdies by the turn leaving Fowler in their jet-wash. Rickie made the turn three-over, six back of Rory and Tom.
It was a great display by the McIlroy-Kim admiration society as both played well. In fact, Kim stepped on the 18th tee a shot better than Rory. He was six-under, Rory five-under.
Kim lost his tee shot a bit right, laid up out of the trees and his third to seven feet. He missed that par putt, his only bogey to the day, to tie McIlroy at 66 — five under par and a good first day’s work in the books as both were just a shot out of the lead.
The day before, Kim’s Wednesday presser was scheduled right after Rory’s. Kim, in a moment of youthful exuberance, took a seat with the press guys and raised his hand at question time.
“Rory, I have a question for you,” Kim began. “What’s it like having so much success as a young player? Coming out and many years on tour, how do you manage all that?”
“I didn’t have as much success as you’re having at such a young age,” McIlroy laughed as he saw Kim was the one asking the question. “Like I think when you start to have success at a young age, you’re going to – I think the biggest thing that I realized is managing your time. You’re going to be pulled in so many different directions.
“You’ve got one, two, three, four, I can see five sponsors on you at this point, right? So, it’s just trying to manage your time to realize what got you to this position, right? Why are you a two-time PGA Tour winner, why are you such a great player? And it’s the time that you put into it and it’s the practice, it’s not losing sight of that. I think that’s the thing.”
A very cool moment to say the least.
Kim’s curiosity didn’t stop there, he chatted up a storm with Rory during that first round.
“It was the first time for me to kind of see Rory in action on the course, and he’s a different person really,” Kim said. “He’s an amazing ball-striker; everyone knows he’s an amazing driver of the golf ball. Obviously, I had a few nerves for the first few holes, but talking to him a little bit more got me into kind of being more comfortable around him, because he’s someone I’ve looked up to ever since I started golf. It’s going to be a really fun first couple days for me. It’s going to be a great experience, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
As for Rory, he was pleased with his first Tour event since he won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. “A clean card, no bogeys — a nice start to the season,” Rory said. “This course demands concentration on every shot. The greens were the fastest I’ve played on a Thursday in the long time. He had to pay close attention to the three-footers.”
And Rory was plenty impressed by what he saw from Kim. “He didn’t really miss a shot out there,” McIlroy said. “He’s a very, very solid player, plays to his strengths. Makes the same swing at it pretty much every time – like it’s very, very consistent, very steady.”
At one point in the day, Kim asked Rory about speed training to add distance. “No, no, no,” was McIlroy’s fast answer. “I think as he gets a little older and maybe a touch stronger, he’ll get that naturally,” McIlroy said. “But I was like, Do not go down that path – you’re good the way you are.”
McIlroy added: “He (Kim) hits it far enough. “I think when I was 20 and then got to 22 or 23, naturally, I just got a little more speed.”
When asked who he might compare Kim to, Rory offered: “Hideki (Matsuyama) was that good at that age, but maybe a little more consistent. But we don’t need to make comparisons quite yet,” McIlroy said. “Just let him turn into the person he’s going to be, and I think that will be good enough to have a hell of a career.”
Future aside, it was a heckuva nice day for both these players.
And both seemed to enjoy each other’s company.
Bro-mance?
