MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tom Kim plays a shot on the tenth hole during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind on August 10, 2023. | Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Tom Kim did his best to avoid another muddy disaster at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He did so while keeping his ankle stable too.
During the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, viewers may have noticed Tom Kim’s white pants and how he pulled them up to his calves.
“I didn’t want to get myself dirty,” Kim said when asked about his pants. “Just don’t like it. I’ve had a really bad week once this year, so just trying to stay away from it really.”
Inclement weather saturated TPC Southwind Thursday morning, delaying tee times and softening the golf course.
Due to the wet conditions, the PGA Tour allowed players to play lift, clean, and place for the opening round.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tom Kim waits to putt on the ninth green during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind on August 10, 2023.
Thus, he took it upon himself to roll up his pants and avoid the wet mud Thursday, unlike Tom Kim’s incident at the PGA Championship in May.
While playing the difficult 6th hole at Oak Hill, Kim slipped and fell into Allen’s Creek during the opening round of the PGA Championship.
He had mud and water all over himself, as he needed to change his clothes on the course so he could finish his round.
“A lot of people seemed to have a lot of laughs about it, but I just thought it was pretty convenient,” Kim said of his pants on Thursday. “I chose the wrong color for the day, but my caddie Joe actually said he doesn’t really care what I do as long as I make birdies and eagles, so it kind of worked.”
Kim made plenty of birdies Thursday, making seven total. He held a share of the lead with Jordan Spieth late in the day, but a bogey at the par-4 7th set him back to 6-under for the championship.
His 6-under 64 Thursday put him in solo second place. He looks to continue up the leaderboard Friday, despite having a nagging ankle injury that has plagued him for months.
“Obviously [the wet conditions] doesn’t help [the ankle] because there’s a lot of — you have to use a lot of your muscles around your legs to be able to push through, and it’s just kind of not what I need, to be honest,” Kim admitted afterward.
“I would like to be able to walk on flat and dry areas; just take the stress off my ankle.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
