Nearly two-and-a-half years after his last appearance on the Asian Tour, golfing phenom Tom Kim is back this week competing in the Link Hong Kong Open with the air of expectancy palpable.
The Asian Tour is where it all started for the young Korean – particularly in 2019 when he triumphed four times, once on the main tour and three times on the Asian Development Tour at the tender age of 17 – before he became an almost overnight sensation on the global stage with two victories on the PGA Tour in 2022 and another last year.
“This is where I started; I have a lot of my friends here,” said Kim, now aged 22.
“Going to the US I have not been able to come back because of a busy schedule. It is really nice to be back. I think I have said hello to so many people. It is a tight group here. I have been outside that group for a bit but to see all the guys now is really great. It is different out here.”
He has played in the Hong Kong Open, here at the Hong Kong Golf Club, only once before, back in 2020. He tied for 18th when Australian Wade Ormsby raised the trophy – shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped play for nearly two years on the Tour.
Says the world number 27: “I was so young then. I played with Jazz (Janewattananond) and Shane Lowry that week [in Hong Kong]. I felt so excited. Now I just feel like I want to be that kid again. I don’t get to play back here much now but Asia is my motherland. When I step on that first tee on Thursday, I want to feel 17 again.”
Kim is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour as he claimed the Singapore International in 2022, to add to his success in the Panasonic Open India in 2019.
He also claimed the 2020-2022 Asian Tour Order of Merit before, soon after, he broke through on the PGA Tour by winning the Wyndham Championship in July of 2022.
“Every year goes by so quickly for me. I started when I was 17 when I played this event. Now I am 22. A lot of things have changed,” he added.
“I am definitely not that same 17-year-old anymore. It is a draining sport. I have had some rewards, but I have had some scar tissue. You develop this personality, and you become a man.”
Having lost in two sudden-death play-offs recently – first to world number one Scottie Scheffler in the Travelers Championship in June and then to fellow-Korean An Byeong Hun in the Genesis Championship in October – Kim is highly motivated to make it a triumphant return to the Asian Tour this week.
He explains: “Game is good. Made some changes mid-season and got to see a lot of good things. I have been playing really well, just working on a few things right now. Trying to get ready for next year.”
This week’s event is the 19th stop of the season on the Asian Tour and event number eight on The International Series.
The International Series is the most prized pathway in golf. It consists of 10 elite tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour and offers the year-long Rankings leader promotion to the LIV Golf League
