Sony Open Notebook: Si Woo Kim's Modesty, Adam Scott's Start and Matt Kuchar's Tonic
HONOLULU — How is it that a player that won The Players Championship at 21 years old can actually believe they are not in the upper tier of the PGA Tour?
That is what Sony Open champion Si Woo Kim expressed with the gold trophy sitting in his right hand and his fourth win added to his resume.
With one of the biggest wins on the PGA Tour back in 2017, Kim still believes even today he is not, let’s say, worthy.
A lot of players would love to have Si Woo Kim's resume: four PGA Tour wins including a Players.
Matt York/AP
“I think I was not good enough for the top level, like all the top-10 players, but somehow I got lucky, like that rookie year, and then next year won The Players,” Kim said. “My dad kept talking to me, 'you're not the top player, so don't try to act like top player.'”
When Kim plays with Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas or what he calls other good players, he said he tells himself—what am I doing here?
While he may not believe he belongs at times, on Sunday he clearly found his groove with a 6-under 64 that included seven birdies, two coming at the end of the round to take him from one behind to tied to a one-shot victory over Hayden Buckley.
“If I was one stroke behind, kind of trying to see what happens the first five holes, but I was three strokes behind, so I have to keep aggressive until finishing the round,” Kim said. “I think that mindset really helps for me because I don't have time for the pressure, so I have to keep trying to make birdie every hole.”
Adam Scott Is Just Getting Started
Adam Scott had a mediocre two weeks in Hawaii with two top 20s, a 29th in the 39-player Sentry Tournament of Champions and T21 at the Sony Open.
In total, $287,025 for his efforts, but it's early. That's how Scott looked at it after two 67s on the weekend in Oahu.
"I tried to take a bit of a break and came to Kapalua underdone, and I think I'm just starting to get warmed up now,” Scott said describing his fortnight. “I can take some good stuff out of these two weeks with where the game is at and kind of a theme for the year going forward maybe.”
The immediate theme for Scott is to take a month off, skipping Palm Springs, San Diego, Pebble Beach and Phoenix, before returning to Riviera for Tiger Woods's event.
Skipping Phoenix is a bit odd since it is an elevated event and Scott has committed to those events this year.
“I don't have a good reason for you,” Scott said of skipping Phoenix. “The embarrassing reason is I actually thought it went Phoenix, Pebble, L.A., so I didn't even consider it from the beginning.”
That’s OK, Adam, we all make mistakes.
When the Masters champ does return to the PGA Tour, he will have his celebrity caddie Steve Williams back on the bag.
“I think generally the whole idea with a job share is that it's always fresh,” Scott said of his caddie plan this season. “That whoever you've got out there you haven't seen for a little while, maybe eight weeks or so since they've been on the bag, and then they do a run and someone else comes back and it's all very fresh, and I think it's a good thing at this point in a long career.”
Scott was in the hunt briefly on Sunday, but eventually fell back to a bystander.
It’s not a comfortable place to be for Scott, but also not one he is currently worried about in January.
“If I was super critical of my game, I'd say I'm underprepared at the moment and need practice in all areas to lift it up to a better level,” Scott said. “But the fact of the matter is I'm really only interested in a few weeks a year. As long as I'm ready for them, the rest is just ticking boxes.”
Matt Kuchar's Happy Place
Matt Kuchar hasn’t seen a top 10 since the 2022 RBC Heritage when he finished T3.
But coming to Oahu has generally been a soothing tonic for the 1997 U.S. Amateur champion, and this trip to Waialae was not any different with a T7 after a weekend of 64-66.
Making his 19th appearance at the Sony Open, Kuchar recorded his eighth top 10 with his second consecutive T7 and earnings of over $550,000 over the last two years.
“I was really excited about getting off to that start,” Kuchar said of making three birdies in the first four holes. “I thought, this could be my day.”
Unfortunately, a bogey on the difficult 8th hole and then another on the 13th derailed a potentially great round, but consecutive birdies at the end of the round got Kuchar another top 10.
“To shoot 4 under was a good round,” Kuchar said. “I was thinking after 3 under through 4 I was going to try to go for 8 or 9 under, and 4 under was all I could manage.”
After Kuchar’s even-par 70 in Thursday’s first round, which included three consecutive bogeys to start the tournament, the 44-year-old would have easily taken a top 10.
“I thought, this is crazy, I've been playing as good as I can remember,” Kuchar said of the start. “I've been out training on the Big Island at Kohanaiki and playing some really good golf. So very much looking forward to the week. To get off to that start was a head scratcher.”
Tidbits: Another Come-From-Behind Champ
> Kim became fourth consecutive winner of the Sony Open to come from behind in the final round, joining Hideki Matsuyama (2022), Kevin Na (2021) and Cameron Smith (2020).
> Though he failed to close from his 54-hole lead, the runner-up finish was Hayden Buckley's best on Tour, his previous best being a T4 at the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship).
> Chris Kirk finished third and and now has three top-three finishes at the Sony.