Si Woo Kim prepares for PLAYERS defense with improved putting

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It’s a safe assumption that every club in the bag is working when you shoot 34 under and break an all-time scoring record on the PGA TOUR, as Cam Smith did at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. That said, in addition to the new Vokey SM9 wedges Smith put in play for his 65-64-64-65 romp at Kapalua, his putter may be the most interesting portion of the bag. Smith putts with a Scotty Cameron 009M prototype. Generally, the 009M is a traditional Anser-style putter most similar to the retail Newport line. The “009” is a reference to San Diego’s zip code, where Cameron’s studio is located, while the ‘M’ stands for ‘masterful.’ Smith said he put the slant-neck Scotty in play at last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii, pointing out that the club is celebrating its birthday this week at Waialae Country Club. He’ll certainly want to buy it a gift. The Australian was 10th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season and is fourth in the young 2021-22 campaign. He led the field in that statistic last week at Kapalua, as well. Smith said he prefers a slant neck and, when considering a new putter last year, told Cameron and company he wanted the neck design in whatever club he would test. “There’s lots of cool stamps in the back there as well,” Smith said. “I’ve always loved the dot on top. I’ve never been a line guy. I feel like I can just feel the putter a little bit better. I don’t get so obsessed with the line. I feel like I’m able to just hit a good putt, and a good putt out of the middle means more chances of going in.” You can see the stamps and the sight dot below. And while there are elements of the design Smith can point to that suit his preferences, there’s a certain je ne sais quoi quality as well. “I just really like this one. I don’t know why,” Smith said. “It just feels great in the hands. I feel like I’m able to hit really good lag putts with it, which is a big thing out here. We leave ourselves some pretty nasty putts sometimes. I feel like I’m able to get the ball rolling real good. And like I said, the biggest thing for me is the strike. So I just feel like I hit lots of good putts with it out of the middle, and it feels so good.” Scotty Cameron TOUR rep Drew Page said Smith had been in a mallet-style Teryllium T22 Fastback model. The pair collaborated on a blade design after Smith, a self-identified “blade guy” said he wanted a similar slant neck on a blade-style putter. “He liked the neck. We put it on a 009 head. We gave it to him here, (at the) 2021 Sony Open, and he has put it in play and used it ever since,” Page said. “It gave him the look and offset that he wanted and gave him back the feel that he wanted with the blade. I think he just wanted to go back to his roots and have a little bit more playability within his stroke with a blade.” If putting is a game of comfort and confidence, clearly Smith has both. We can also add “cool” to that list, as Cam’s Cameron is one of the coolest looking on TOUR.

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LAS VEGAS - They might not be competing on their native soil, but Sungjae Im and the strong South Korean contingent at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK are as determined as ever to claim the trophy. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament to move to Las Vegas for a year after three successful stagings of THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES on South Korea's Jeju Island. South Korea is scheduled to resume hosting THE CJ CUP next year. Though not being held in its host country, this year's CJ CUP still features a strong group of South Korean players gathered at one of the United States' most exclusive clubs, Shadow Creek. Sungjae Im leads the 11 men from South Korea in the 78-man field. Danny Lee, who plays under the New Zealand flag, and Kevin Na, who identifies as American, were born in South Korea, as well. The impact of the South Korean players on the PGA TOUR continues to grow after former PLAYERS champion K.J. Choi blazed the trail. "K.J. (Choi) always used to say that he used to feel somewhat lonely after tournaments because he would have no fellow Koreans to eat with or talk with," said two-time PGA TOUR winner Si Woo Kim, who also won at TPC Sawgrass. "But this week for me it’s really special because there’s not only Korean players who currently play on the PGA TOUR, but also players who are invited from Korea, so we’re kind of able to gather and eat and talk and hopefully we all can work together and have good results. Im's age (22) is lower than his Official World Golf Ranking (23), a testament to the impressive trajectory of his career. He was the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year in 2018 and the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year the following season. He picked up his first PGA TOUR win earlier this year, at The Honda Classic. "If I were to win (the CJ CUP) as my second victory, (and) at a sponsor event, I think my happiness would be twofold," Im said. "I hope that I can do my best this week and produce the best result that I can." He's back in the top 30 of the FedExCup standings early in this season after three top-30 results, including a T13 at last week's Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Like Im, Kim arrives at Shadow Creek after a strong finish at the Shriners. Kim finished eighth last week. "In Korea, (the CJ CUP) felt like a home competition but this year is a special opportunity and it’s really cool to see a Korean tournament being played in America," Kim said. Byeong Hun An also is a star on the world stage. Like Im and Kim, he's played in an International Presidents Cup team and while he's still searching for a first TOUR win (he has four top-3 finishes in the last three seasons) he has broken through on the European Tour. Rounding out the PGA TOUR regulars are Sung Kang, who was a winner at the AT&T Byron Nelson in 2019, and K.H. Lee, who has made the FedExCup Playoffs in his first two seasons. Six more Korean players are in the field this week off of their performance on the Korean and Asian tours. Tournament organizers have brought a Korean feel to Las Vegas, as well. Bibigo's Korean barbeque and dumplings are among the options in player dining. Even the Americans are getting in on the Korean theme. Defending champion Justin Thomas made sure to get some Korean barbecue for his lunch on Monday and he wasn't alone. Thomas has been a staunch supporter of what is usually the Asian Swing of the TOUR. "The game of golf is growing so much across the world and it’s so big in Korea and all of Asia," Thomas said. "And that is what’s unfortunate about not being there this week. We always get a huge following out there and it’s really cool to see." Here is a closer look at the other Korean players in the field for the CJ CUP: • Jeongwoo Ham: He has a Korean Tour win to his name (2019 SK telecom OPEN) and was T67 at the 2019 CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in his lone PGA TOUR start. • Hanbyeol Kim: He won back-to-back starts at the 2020 Hedges KPGA Open and the 2020 Shinhan Donghae Open on the Korean Tour. He currently leads the Order of Merit. • Seonghyun Kim: He became the first Monday qualifier to win on the Korean PGA Tour, capturing the 2020 Korean PGA Championship. • Jaekyeong Lee: He won the 2019 Busan Open en route to securing the Rookie of the Year award on the Korean PGA Tour. • Tae Hee Lee: The 36-year-old has five previous PGA TOUR starts. His best finish is a T55 at the 2018 CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. • Joohyung (Tom) Kim: The teenager is a star in the making. He won the 2019 Panasonic Open India as a 17-year-old to become the second-youngest professional to win on the Asian Tour. Also has a Korean Tour win and has played three TOUR events in recent months. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, was T67 at the season opening Safeway Open and T33 at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

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