Tom Kim wins again in Vegas

It took a year, but now we are on the Tom Kim bandwagon again.

When Kim won the Shriners Children's Open last year as a 20-year-old, there were a lot of comparisons to Tiger Woods. Both were off the chart for winning and being so consistent at a young age. Kim won his first title at the Wyndham Championship last year at the tender age of just 20 years, 1 month, and 17 days. The victory was terrific because he became the second youngest winner on the PGA Tour since World War II (Jordan Spieth, at 19 years, 11 months, 17 days at the 2013 John Deere was the youngest).

The victory was terrific for Kim because he won before his childhood idol did.

Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in various countries: China, Australia, The Philippines, and Thailand. His father was a professional golfer who played on the Korn Ferry Tour and became a teaching professional.

Kim's father started him to play golf at the age of six, and by the time he was 11, he knew what he wanted to do: become like his hero Tiger Woods. Just like his hero, Kim was not born into a well-to-do family and had to work hard to reach the level he could achieve success.

Kim turned pro in May 2018, a month before his 16th birthday. School wasn't in the cards for him. He felt he was good enough and played on the Philippine Golf Tour at the tender age of 16. He found success early, winning in Malaysia the following year. In November 2019, he won the Panasonic Open India at 17 years and 149 days, making him the second youngest professional to win on the Asian Tour. The pandemic slowed down Kim and only won once in 2020 and '21. Kim was lucky to qualify for the 2020 PGA Championship, becoming the second youngest PGA Championship competitor in this millennium at 18 years, 1 month, 16 days. The youngest was Ryo Ishikawa at 17 years, 10 months, 4 days in 2009. The PGA Championship was Kim's first event outside Korea, Asia, or New Zealand. Kim missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

Kim gained more experience playing in Korea; when he won the 2022 Singapore International, he climbed to 132nd in the World Rankings, and the next week, when he finished T-2nd at the SMBC Singapore Open, he moved to 89th in the Rankings. Thanks to getting into the top 100 of the world rankings, he could play at the PGA Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson. He also got to play in the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline. He finished T-23rd and, in his next start, was 3rd at the Genesis Scottish Open, which got him in the running for a Special Temporary membership on the PGA Tour. Kim earned his first break by shooting 61 in the final round of the Wyndham Championship, and he won the event by five shots. The biggest aspect of the victory was that Kim got a full-time PGA Tour membership, allowing him to play in the FedExCup playoffs. With the win, he also got on the International team at the Presidents Cup, played all five matches, and was the bright spot at the Matches.

But when Kim won a few weeks later at the Shriners Children's, he became the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice before turning 21. So, just like that, Kim was on the fast track to being the next Tiger Woods.

Later in the year, Kim finished T-4th at the Dunlop Phoenix Open in Japan and T-10th at the Hero Challenge. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions shot four rounds in the 60s and finished T-5th, five shots back of winner Jon Rahm. At the American Express was T-6th, four shots back of Jon Rahm.

But all of this came very early for Kim. Since he was on a fast track to stardom, things like any faults in his swing and what to do when things weren't going well. Tiger Woods saw this early in his quest for greatness. When he won the 1997 Masters for his fourth tour title, Woods realized he was a good player but wanted to be the greatest. So with the help of swing coach Butch Harman, Woods completely dismantled his game and, over the next two years, reconstructed it into perfection, which we saw with his unbelievable run starting at the 1999 Farmers Insurance, which he won. Things got even better when he won the Memorial and started a run of 100 tournaments in which he won 32 times, was in the top three 48 times, the top ten 70 times, and the top-25, 93 times. All of this because Tiger went the next step to be even better.

Kim struggled with his game after finishing T-6th at the American Express in January. For the first time, he felt uncomfortable over the ball. He couldn't trust his swing and strategy and didn't know what to do. He sought help, and one of those that answered was Chris Como. At the end of June, the two started working together. At first, Como got Kim to work on a few minor swing tweaks, but mainly on the way, Kim thought. Como told PGATour.Com, "It was just him understanding when things get off, what's happening, why they're getting off, and just finding his sweet spot more often," Como said.

Kim found success early. He was T-6th at the Genesis Scottish Open and runner-up at the British Open. But at his rental home in Hoylake on Thursday evening, Kim slipped on a patch of wet grass and sprained his right ankle. He was in a lot of pain and almost withdrew on Friday. But he gutted it out. The injury was diagnosed as a grade 1 sprain, and his trainer taped up the ankle gave him a shot, and Kim went out, started to feel comfortable, and finished T-2nd. The good news is that he wasn't going to damage the ankle by playing, but it was uncomfortable. Tom flew to Korea for treatment after the British but could not defend his Wyndham title. That was a disappointment, but he realized things could have been worse. He recovered, played in the FedExCup playoffs, and finished T-20th at the Tour Championship. Kim took a few weeks off and went to play in Europe. He always wanted to play in the BMW PGA Championship and did, finishing T-18th. Then he played the following week at the French Open and finished T-6th. That was more of a scouting mission since the Olympics are being played at the Le Golf National. He has some personal feelings about the Olympics. If he could medal at either the Olympics or the Asian Games, he would be exempt from military duty in South Korea.

So, how did Kim win the Shriners?

Little did anyone realize it, but when Kim made a double bogey on his ninth hole on Friday (on the 18th hole), Kim was just three under and on the cusp of possibly missing the cut (which came at 3 under). But on the front nine, Kim was 3 under and shot back-to-back rounds of 68 to make the cut by three shots.

Kim played his first 27 holes in 3 under and his last 45 holes in 17 under.

One of the hardest things to do in golf is to back up a great round with another good round. Kim shot 62 in the final round, even with two bogeys. But his final round 66 could have been even better as he birdied three of his first four holes and then made birdie at 12, 13, and 15.

With his 62 on Saturday, Kim went into the final round tied for the lead with Adam Hadwin. But just within three shots of Kim and Hadwin were 15 other players, the second-most of any event in 2023 (The Memorial had 22 tied or within three shots of the lead).

Statistically, Kim didn't do anything remarkable, or we can point it out as his victory. Kim was T-5th in Fairway accuracy, T-40th in Greens in regulation, and 4th in Strokes Gained Putting. With Kim 40th in Greens hit, he was very sharp around the green. He was T-9th in scrambling, but one stat sticks out he was first in one-putts with 35. He also led in Strokes Gained total, meaning overall, his game was better than anyone else. Kim did lead the birdie category with 27 and played the par 4s in 13 under, second best (Joel Dahmen was 15 under on them). So, if you are looking, Kim didn't do anything out of the ordinary in his victory.

So what did Kim achieve with the victory?

He picks up his third PGA Tour victory in his 44th start at 21 years, 3 months, 24 days.

Becomes the second-youngest to successfully defend a PGA Tour title since 1900 (John McDermott/1912 U.S. Open/20 years, 11 months, 21 days).

Becomes the first player to win the same event twice in a season since Byron Nelson won the San Francisco Open in January and December 1944.

But this chart is the most essential aspect of Kim's victory. He's the youngest player to win three events in the history of the PGA Tour:

Others that showed us promise at the Shriners Children's Open:

Ludvig Aberg shows how remarkable he was. Playing in his sixth event in the last seven weeks (including the Ryder Cup), he doesn't seem to be slowing down. After a first-round 69, Aberg made a double bogey on his first hole and struggled to make the cut. He made three birdies on his final five holes to make the cut by two shots. He struggled in his third round, making birdie on two of the last three holes to shoot 68. But he found his game on Sunday, shooting 62 in a round where he made 158 feet of putts to finish T-13th.

So Aberg moved from 113 to 96 in the FedExCup race, which means he will have a PGA Tour card for 2024. But Aberg has his sights on bigger fish. His first order is to get into the top 50 of the Official World Ranking, thus earning him an invite into the Masters. Right now, he is 58th in the rankings. Another goal for Aberg is to get into the top 60 of the FedExCup to play in the Sentry and Genesis. That may be a bit out of the question. He is presently looking to play in Mexico and the RSM, and he probably would need at least a runner-up to achieve that goal. He has not said anything about playing in Bermuda, which happens to be the same week as Nedbank in South Africa. Since getting into the top 50 of the Race to Dubai would be more achievable if he plays in South Africa, with a chance to play the following week in Dubai, he could go that route. He is 54th in the Race to Dubai. It takes being in the top 50 to get to Dubai, so South Africa could be necessary, we will see.

Chesson Hadley finished T-7th to move to 122nd in the FedExCup rankings. Hadley did it on the strength of a 2nd round 64, followed by rounds of 67-66.

Cameron Champ has to be kicking himself. The 28th-year-old has been on the PGA Tour since 2019. He won three times in his first three years, but since he won the 2021 3M Open, times have been very lean. Since that win, he has played in 48 events, making only 27 cuts, and his best finish was a t-6th in the 2022 Mexico Open. Champ is best on bombers courses, and he has had a few shots at a good event, but one-round torpedo things.

At the Shriners, he shot 63-67 to be among the leaders going into the weekend, but on the third hole on Saturday, he made a triple bogey. After that, he made six bogeys and six birdies, but the 74 took him out of contention. He returned on Sunday to shoot 65 to finish T-13th but only earned 43 FedExcup points to stay at 143rd in the FedExCup races. In the following four events, he needs to find a way into the top 125 or face having to play next year on the Korn Ferry Tour. The good news he is in Japan, where he finished 8th last year. Still, he needs a top-four or five in the events left.

Beau Hossler opened up with a 62, tying his career-low round of the PGA Tour.

He entered the week 57th in the FedExCup fall standings, so he put himself on a great path to securing a spot in the top 60 to qualify for the two signature events. Hossler shot 71 in the second round but shot 68-66 to finish T-7th, earning 77.5 FedExCup points and moving to 51st in the fall standings.

Isaiah Salinda has struggled in golf since graduating from Stanford and turning pro in 2020. The former Walker Cup player has been on the Mackenzie Tour, and the Korn Ferry tour this year. But he finished 80th on the Korn Ferry Points list, which means he will stay on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, but not full-time.

So he will have to go through second stage of the PGA Tour Q-School with the hope of getting a better position on any tour. So the news was happy when he was able to Monday qualify and play in the Shriners. Salinda made the cut and shot 63 in the third round to find himself in contention. He played well on Sunday to shoot 67 and finish T-7th. Not only was his $238,000 paycheck the biggest check of his career, it was double what his $111,815 earnings in 21 Korn Ferry starts this year. But the big prize for Salinda, his top-ten finish gets him in the field in a few weeks at Cabo for the World Wide Technology Championship.

This week in Japan, the Zozo Championship

This is a premier event that, unfortunately, really doesn't work in the format. The fall events are about grinding it out, securing a PGA Tour card for 2024, and then trying to get better status by climbing the points list. But this event goes against that premise. Sure, it will have the best field of any of the fall events. But the field has only 78 players, and 11 are Japanese players on the Japan Golf Tour points list. Then, 17 players are in the top 50 of the FedExCup points list.

These players can't improve their status for 2024. So that leaves just 50 spots for those desperately trying to make the top 125 or get into the top 60 and earn a spot into the Sentry and Genesis events. Then you have the fact that players have to travel from Las Vegas to Japan, in which you lose a day, which means you have very little time to learn the course and get over jet lag. The good news is that the PGA tour has chartered a plane to get them to Japan as painlessly as possible. Still, this event just doesn't fit. This event was in the making long before the Tour finalized the fall schedule. I think this may be a one-off event. I don't have any information, but it wouldn't surprise me if this event moved to either January or February and was a part of the regular 2025 schedule. That makes sense, and who knows? I guess we will have to wait and see.

About the course:

Accordia is outside of Tokyo and was picked because it can accommodate many spectators. The original course opened in 1965, and a second 18 was opened soon after. Japan course architect Junya Fujita did both, and they have held several professional events, the biggest being the 1977 Japan Open. The course being played this week is a composite of the 36 holes, as it will play to a par 70 at 7,079 yards. The first thing for everyone to realize is that this is a concise course under the standards of having the best players in the world play it. With Zoysia fairways, the course will play to its actual yardage, but the combination of many mature trees and most of the holes bending to one way or another takes the driver out of the hands of the long drivers. The rough is thick, but since most shots will be between a 6 iron to pitching wedge, it's nothing the pros can't handle. There are a lot of thick trees that line the fairways, and wayward drives will cause problems for those that are wild off the tee, but still, the length will be an advantage this week. One thing the players find strange is that each hole has two greens. That's because they have summer and winter greens in Japan. So, like last year, the year before, and in 2020, the PGA Tour will pick the green that is in the best shape and presents the best challenge. The greens are extensive and easy to hit from the fairways but have some undulations. The players will find the greens a bit slow for what they are used to, which could be a significant advantage for poorer putters. Bunkers are no problem and are more for cosmetic looks, and any chip around the green will be easy.

About this week

This event started four years ago when it was played in Japan in October 2019. It became an instant success when Tiger Woods won the last event Woods won. Because of COVID-19, the event the following year was played outside of Los Angeles at Sherwood C.C. With the pandemic easing, it returned to Japan in October of 2022, and the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, the same club that Tiger Woods won, was again pressed into service. That year, it was won by Hideki Matsuyama, and last year, Keegan Bradley was the champion.

As for Accordia Golf, it's not one of the best courses in Japan. It also doesn't have the reputation of being a brute of a course. Last year, 48 of the 78 broke par, and the course played to a 69.15 average for the par 70 layout. Last year, the course lost some of the bite it had the year before. When Keegan Bradley won, the course was the 30th hardest course on Tour. But the year early, when Hideki Matsuyama won, the course had more bite to it as only 27 of the 78 broke par with the course playing to a 70.48 scoring average as it was the 13th hardest course on the PGA Tour in 2022.

So the course does have some bite to it, a course that is best won by long hitters. One of the reasons we didn't do a key fantasy stat feature is that the course lacks history and has mixed returns to the point that we really couldn't come to any actual conclusion. From last year's stats, we see that the driving distance on the course is 287.5, which means that the average drive is short. It ranked sixth on Tour, and the ones in front of it were on courses that weather made the fairways soft with no roll. That makes sense, this course is perfectly manicured, and I can see a limited roll on the fairways. As for accuracy, the course was the 23rd toughest on Tour, meaning it's mainstream on players hitting the fairways. Winner Keegan Bradley hit 31 of the 54 and ranked T-23rd. Of those that finished in the top 11, only two were in the top ten, so hitting fairways is unimportant. But a critical stat is hitting greens. Last year, the course ranked 38th out of 53 courses, so many greens were hit last year. So it makes sense that winner Bradley was T-3rd, hitting 56 of the 72 greens. Of those in the top 11, six were in the top ten. The same thing happened the year before when Hideki Matsuyama won. He led the field, hitting 59 of 72 greens. The same with the runner-ups, Cameron Tringale was 2nd in greens hit, and Brandan Steele was T-7th. Returning to the first Zozo won by Tiger Woods, he was T-3rd in Greens hit. So, it's best to hit this link and look at the Greens in Regulation list to see who to pick this week.

As for any other stats, nothing sticks out.

Players we shouldn't forget about

This week's event is being played in Japan, with a competent tour in which 14 Japan Golf Tour members are playing this week. We all know about Hideki Matsuyama, who won this event two years ago. But a few others are playing that we don't know much about but could also be in contention. One is Ryo Hisatsune, who is a regular on the DP World Tour. Four weeks ago, Hisatsune won the French Open by two shots over Jordan Smith and Jeff Winther. It was Hisatsune's first professional win, but many don't realize that he just turned 21 this week and has the best in front of him. Last year, Ryo finished T-12th in this event, so he may be a person to watch. Another player from Japan to watch is Takumi Kanaya. He was T-7th at the Zozo two years ago and T-53rd last year. This 25-year-old is a full-time member of the Japan Golf Tour and in 2023, leads the money list and has won two. In his last ten starts, he has five top-five finishes and has not finished higher than T-13th. One last thing to watch, he is 5th on the Greens in Regulation stat on the Japan tour, so he is a person to watch. Also, watch Keita Nakajima. This 23-year-old is playing in his first full year as a professional, and already, he has won twice and has been in the top-five nine times. He has played in two Zozo, T-12th last year and T-28th the year before. Some other players from Japan to watch are Taiga Semikawa, Yuki Inamori, Shugo Imahire, and Ryo Ishikawa. Last but not least, Taguri Iwasaki won the Japan Open last week.

Here is a look at who is the hottest players at the Zozo Championship:

Here is a look at my top picks for this week:

For the complete preview, you have to be a member of Golfstats.com

Last but not least

This is a fun video of players at Wynn Las Vegas who has the Las Vegas Sphere trolling all over them.

joey.coldcuts

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