No. 23: Jhonattan Vegas

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Tom Kim may be just 20 years old, but he’s set to be a CEO. No, not in the ilk of a Silicon Valley start-up. Kim isn’t going to don a V-neck and skinny jeans and learn to code. He’s prepared to be the Chief Energy Officer for the International Team in this week’s Presidents Cup at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club. The third-youngest participant in Presidents Cup history, Kim has vowed to bring the same infectious personality and style that has led to an incredible rise through the ranks in the last few months. Kim first popped on many fans’ radars after his third-place finish in the Genesis Scottish Open, followed by another top-10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Then there was the thrilling win at the Wyndham Championship, where he started the tournament with a quadruple-bogey and ended it with a 61 to win by five and become the second-youngest winner on TOUR since World War II (only Jordan Spieth was younger). Kim nearly made it to the TOUR Championship after starting the season without status, finishing 32nd in the FedExCup, and is now 22nd in the world ranking after beginning the year at No. 131. Kim also stormed his way into a spot on the International Team with his strong summer, earning one of six automatic spots on Trevor Immelman’s squad. That pleased the International captain, who’d been watching Kim for a while on the recommendation of noted instructor and good friend Claude Harmon III, who happened across Kim during a practice round. The more Immelman saw, the more he liked. “He’s an incredibly mature, well-rounded guy for just being 20,” Immelman says. “He’s the real deal. There’s no doubt about it. He’s got this this enthusiasm that is palpable.” And it is that enthusiasm that might just be Kim’s best weapon in Charlotte this week. Kim lives by the motto of giving his all every single time. No regrets. His parents have drilled it home and he subscribes to the theory. The challenge ahead of the International Team is momentous. Kim knows this. The U.S. Team has never lost the Presidents Cup on home soil and is a dominant 11-1-1 overall in the competition. But it doesn’t worry him one bit. Kim knows all about underdog status. He knows records are there to be broken and the past is just that, the past. Failure only stays failure if you don’t respond to it. And he won’t be sitting in a corner of the team room in silent mode. Far from it. “I hope to just get the energy going (for the team),” Kim said. “I’m a lot younger than all the guys on the team, so hopefully I can bring that young energy and just be a kid out there and have all the fun we can. We know it will be tough but as long as we come together as a team, we’re going to have a chance. So, I intend to be a good energy out there for the team.” The International Team has a long history of great Asian players. From the early pioneers like Tsukasa Watanabe, Shigeki Maruyama and Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki to K.J. Choi (now a captain’s assistant) and Y.E. Yang into the new breed like Hideki Matsuyama, Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im. There are a record four South Koreans on the International Team this year: Kim, Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kim and K.H. Lee. Traditionally, Asian players have been somewhat quiet in the team environment. Many factors, including the language barriers and reserved culture, may have contributed to this. But in the most recent Presidents Cup in 2019, the addition of Choi as an assistant and the youthful exuberance of Im showed a new blueprint. Im was a standout as a rookie for Captain Ernie Els at Royal Melbourne with a team-leading 3.5 points earned with a 3-1-1 record. Only a huge U.S. Singles fightback on Sunday kept the Internationals from winning again at Royal Melbourne. Im was one of seven rookies for the Internationals in 2019. This year’s team has a record eight rookies. “It worked well in 2019. There was a real cleanout, a very fresh young team and there was a vibe of no scar tissue and incredible excitement,” team stalwart Adam Scott said ahead of his 10th Presidents Cup. “The new guys had spent their lives watching the Presidents Cup and were stoked to be in it. In teams before, it had been a grind for a lot of long-time players, including myself, of taking it on the chin a lot and not getting any good results. “It was so fun to see the enthusiasm of the young fellas coming in and Ernie did a fantastic job inspiring them. And Trevor has done a great job carrying that over. That fun vibe will continue with all the fresh blood in the team this time around and if we can get the momentum going, we might just shock the world.” Scott has advocated for Kim to be part of that narrative this week and the youngster is keen to take on the challenge. But don’t call him the next Sungjae Im. Or the next anything. He is the one and only Tom Kim and he’s out to make sure you remember it. He doesn’t do ‘normal’. After all – he was born Joohyung Kim but insisted on changing to Tom after becoming obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. He speaks three languages. He turned pro at 15. He gave up sugar during the recent TOUR season to maintain peak fitness. And while growing up he watched DVDs about Tiger Woods until they started to fade, he’s not out to copy his idol – except in one facet. Mindset. This was reinforced recently watching “The Last Dance” documentary about Michel Jordan’s NBA career a handful of times. “To be the best, you have to think very, very differently, and I think the guys out here who have had success are like that,” Kim explains. “Jordan, Tiger, Justin Thomas, whoever it is… they have their own unique sense, and I also think that I have a unique sense. That’s the thing I really look up to because Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, they’re very all unique and they excelled in their sports.” Kim has quite the backstory. After leaving Korea, he lived in multiple countries as a child – China, Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand were all part of his journey as his father, Chang-ik Kim, turned from professional golfer to teaching pro. Tom was in Melbourne as a 9-year-old during the 2011 Presidents Cup, but his family couldn’t afford tickets to attend the tournament. At 13, when the Cup was in his native Korea, he’d moved to the Philippines but kept a very close eye on things. He turned pro right around the 2017 Cup as the Internationals were trounced at Liberty National and was again a keen observer as a 17-year-old three years ago. “I was watching in 2019 and I told myself, man, how cool would it be to be able to represent that team,” Kim recalls. “I know Sungjae pretty well, and he’s bragged about being on that team when I wasn’t there. It definitely was a motivation factor seeing him play and wishing that hopefully I can get on the team. I didn’t really think that this year I’d be able to play. I was pretty far away, but the last few months have been exciting for many reasons. And to make this team is a big part of that. I’m very excited.” Kim arrives at Quail Hollow with veteran caddie Joe Skovron on his bag. The former long-term caddie to Rickie Fowler was on the bag when Fowler won at Quail Hollow back in 2012. It might be the start of taking things to the next level. Scott thinks Kim is already well and truly on his way. “He’s the perfect player we need,” Scott continues. “He’s a guy with red hot form and confidence and he can match it with the best of the TOUR. If he plays his game like we know he can, he becomes a real weapon in match play. He’s not afraid to play his best and he’s not afraid to speak up either. I already feel younger around him.” Sounds like he’s a great CEO already.

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