Monday Morning Rap: Tom Kim's A Star, A Youngster Wins at LIV and Jon Rahm Calls For Peace
Welcome to the Monday Morning Rap, your new one-stop shop for a recap of the golf week that just finished, a preview of the one up ahead, and anything else I deem worthy of your eyeballs. I've been meaning to start this "column" (excuse the old-school Big J word) ever since I started here at Barstool but we've been running around the country like fugitives for the last month-plus. Alas, I've now returned to the Eastern Seaboard and have some time on my hands.
A quick programming note—the format for these posts will be rather free-flowing; some weeks, like this one, there's a ton to talk about, while others will require some creativity to fill up an entire blog. My one promise to you is that I'll do everything I can to make this an entertaining and informative golf read for you as you contemplate your Monday existential crisis. With that, let's dive in.
The Tom Kim Rise Has Been Truly Remarkable
Five months ago, Tom Kim was a teenager teeing it up in the 41st GS Caltex Maekyung Open on the Korean Tour. That was before the summer of his dreams, which began in earnest with a T-23 at the U.S. Open. A few weeks later, he received a sponsors invite from Genesis, a Korea-based company, into the loaded Genesis Scottish Open and finished solo third. That brought him to the precipice of locking up his PGA Tour card, but he kicked his come-up into top gear by winning the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event on the PGA Tour. That earned him a spot at the Presidents Cup, where his youthful exuberance and total embrace of the spotlight stole the show at Quail Hollow.
We had him on the Fore Play podcast the week after that Presidents Cup, and two things were abundantly clear: he absolutely loves playing on the PGA Tour, and he's still young as hell. Kim told us that Sunday night's party with the U.S. and International teams was the first party he'd ever been to. Like, ever. He'd never been around a group of people celebrating something. You have to wonder if Party No. 2 happened last night after Kim out-dueled world No. 4 Patrick Cantlay with a five-under 66 to win the Shriners Children's Open, his second victory in four starts. His fellow Koreans K.H. Lee, Sungjae Im and S.H. Kim hung around to congratulate him on the 18th green.
The 20-year-old also became just the third player since 1974 to win a tournament going bogey-free for all 72 holes and joins Tiger Woods as the only players with multiple PGA Tour victories before their 21st birthday. That's serious, serious stuff.
Kim was far less animated at TPC Summerlin than he was at Quail Hollow; the constant fist pumps and LET'S GOs were replaced by measured conversations with his caddie Joe Skovron, who spent a decade-plus on Rickie Fowler's bag before they split and he picked up Tom Kim's. It was awesome watching Kim adapt his comportment to the moment yet still play equally well as he did in Charlotte. Cantlay—who looked a little annoyed as Kim and partner Si-Woo Kim hooted and fist-pumped in beating Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in Saturday four-ball at the Presidents Cup—matched his counterpart shot for shot until a pull-hook at the last hole led to a triple bogey.
"It's really amazing," Kim, who now moves to world No. 15, said of his run. "A few months ago, I didn't have any status in the U.S., and now being a two-time winner on tour, having that place with Tiger, it's an unbelievable feeling for me. It's an honor for me, and it's definitely a dream come true.
When asked if his rapid rise had been draining, Kim could only smile.
"I mean, I'm playing on the PGA Tour as a 20-year old. It's hard to get tired from this. I'm a 5-year-old at Disneyland for sure. That's the way I would pronounce it."
We talked about this on the podcast, but Kim's total mastery of the English language, his charisma and his down-to-earth demeanor look destined to make him the first Asian male golfer to cross over into superstar territory here in the United States. That's nothing against Hideki Matsuyama, who is an icon in his native Japan, but his soft-spoken nature and use of an interpreter make it hard for American fans to connect with the guy. Tom Kim's just super, super likable, and he's proving to be the breakout star of this summer. He's the exact type of player the PGA Tour needed to emerge and fill a void after the LIV exodus, and he has arrived.
Eugenio Chacarra Cashes In On His LIV Decision
For all the talk of PGA Tour Player X or European Tour Player Y joining LIV Golf, the most intriguing signing might have been Eugenio Chacarra. Not for what he'd accomplished in the past, but for what his future held. Chacarra was the world's No. 2 amateur when, coming out of golf factory Oklahoma State, he eschewed the "traditional" route of trying to earn a PGA Tour card to instead sign with LIV. By doing so, the Spaniard took something of a gamble: that the schism fracturing world golf would eventually resolve itself and provide him a pathway to world ranking points and the major championships. Either that, or he simply decided that the guaranteed money was too good to pass up and more important than playing in majors.
On Sunday, Chacarra beat a bunch of world-class players to win his first LIV event in Bangkok and, when combining the individual prize with the dough for his side winning the team competition, the 22-year-old took home $4.75 million for his efforts. That is a jaw-dropping sum of money, the type of payday that changes his entire family's trajectory…but it also leaves him no closer to earning world-ranking points or playing in any of the majors. As we discussed in detail last week, the Official World Golf Ranking said not-so-fast to LIV's ploy to offer OWGR points through a partnership with a little-known tour, which meant that Chacarra earned precisely zero points for winning a tournament that Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Kokrak played in. And with the majors staying mum on the topic and not announcing any changes in qualifying criteria, in the eyes of the four biggest events in golf, Chacarra's essentially in the same place he was before the week—albeit much, much richer. These are strange times we're living in. Chacarra, for what it's worth, retweeted a few comments (including one of my own) that suggested he very much wants to play in all the big events.
Not many people watched Chacarra's victory here in the United States—at least on YouTube, that is. LIV is being broadcast on linear television in a number of different countries, but the U.S. is not one of them. And, per Apex Marketing Group, the first round averaged 15,037 viewers, the second round 17,176 and the final round drew an average of 20,845 people watching.
That money's still cashing, though. LIV now heads to Saudi Arabia for its final regular-season event of the year, but the individual title's already been claimed by Dustin Johnson. He'll make $18 million for winning the points race in this inaugural season, and that's in addition to the $100-plus million guaranteed deal he signed with LIV back in June. Sheeeeesh.
Jon Rahm Seems Tired of All This Infighting
There were three separate events that drew top-10 players in the world this week—the two we just mentioned and the Acciona Open de Espana on the DP World Tour. After a long summer of golf, Jon Rahm flew back to his native Spain and captured his national open for the third time, drawing even with icon and Rahm's idol Seve Ballesteros. After his extremely comfortable six-shot victory—the next-highest ranked player in the field was Tommy Fleetwood at No. 30—Rahm went out of his way to congratulate his countryman Chacarra, even if that meant acknowledging the Tour-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.
"Although some people want to make us look at them (LIV) as the enemy, he is just a 22-year-old guy winning against some of the best players of the world," Rahm said, per a generous Twitter translator. "Congratulations if you see this, Eugenio."
This is consistent with Rahm's recent tone, which has been a version of: Can we just stop with all this infighting already? Rahm's been unwavering in his commitment to the PGA Tour—even when the Twittersphere buzzed with rumors suggesting otherwise a few weeks ago—but he's also refused to trash talk anyone's decision to play elsewhere, and he's been vocal about wanting the LIV guys to be eligible for the Ryder Cup. He said so earlier this week in Spain, and this man clearly wants to move past this battle between warring factions. But, given all the pending lawsuits (including the PGA Tour's countersuit against LIV), that's unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Elsewhere…..
– Jodi Ewart Shadoff won the LPGA Mediheal Championship outside Los Angeles for his first win in her 246th start on the LPGA Tour. Yuka Saso took second and Danielle Kang finished in a tie for third.
— Steve Stricker won his buddy Jim Furyk's tournament on the PGA Tour Champions, the Constellation Furyk and Friends in Jacksonville. Stricker can still roll the crap out of his rock and the 55-year-old was giving putting tips to Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler just a few weeks ago at the Presidents Cup.
— The PGA Tour heads to Japan this week for the Zozo Championship, where hometown hero Hideki Matsuyama will defend his title at Accordia Narashino Golf Club. Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala and Cameron Young are also in the field.
— LIV Golf is also playing across the world, this week in Saudi Arabia. Watching the LIV broadcast team try to tiptoe its way around acknowledging the horrific laws in that country should be an interesting watch.
— The DP World Tour heads to one of the most finicky golf courses in the world, Valderrama, for the Andalucia Masters. Matt Fitzpatrick is your defending champion, and watching the pros try to navigate their way through all those trees at Valderrama always produces an entertaining week.
— Tiger Woods was seen clipping some wedge shots at The Hay, the par 3 course next to Pebble Beach that he re-designed. Woods' move looked balanced and pure, but hitting 60-yard wedges does not equate to PGA Tour competition.
He left open a sponsor's invite spot for himself at the Hero World Challenge, which would seem to be the tournament he'd realistically compete in. There's also the PNC Championship in December, the family event he's played in the last two years with Charlie. Given that he can take a cart in that, and it's a scramble format, you gotta think he'll play.
Until next week,
Dan