Tom Kim Falls Into Creek at the PGA Championship, Gets Soaked and Covered In Mud

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Tom Kim walked off of Oak Hill’s 9th hole—his last of the day—completely oblivious of his newfound viral stardom, but that would change very quickly and produce quite the reaction from the 21-year-old. 

Just three holes earlier, Kim was looking for his ball on the bank of Allen’s Creek on the 6th hole at Oak Hill when a nightmare unfolded. 

The two-time PGA Tour winner slipped into the murky waters just as he was beginning his search and got absolutely soaked, emerging from the hazard covered in mud up to his belt buckle. 

The exact moment of slippage wasn’t captured itself, but the aftermath was broadcast live on ESPN for several minutes.

Naturally, clips and screenshots of the hilarious series of events hit social media feeds almost immediately. 

With three and a half holes left to play, Kim couldn’t continue covered in mud, so he actually went back to the scene of the crime to rinse off—where cameras continued to follow him. After bathing in the stream to the best of his ability, Joe Skovron, Kim’s caddie, handed over his dry socks and shoes along with a long-sleeve layer that replaced his stained Nike polo. 

After all of that, Kim never found his ball. 

Walking off his final hole of the day, Sports Illustrated asked Kim a simple question: “You good?”

His answer produced winces among those standing in the vicinity. 

“I’m not good. I hope there aren’t any pictures of that,” Kim said. 

Moments later, Kim seemed perplexed when ESPN requested him for a post-round interview. Then the news was broken to him: The video of his accident was everywhere. 

Kim’s hand immediately flew to cover his face as he paced around, letting out bursts of laughter: “Everybody knows?!”

Yes, Tom, yes they do. 

This is what went down in the creek, according to Kim himself: 

“If I had a good enough lie, I was thinking I could chip it, but as soon as I went in, it was kind of sketch. It’s a major championship, I’m fighting for every single stroke I have. It got dark: Once my foot got in, I was like, there’s no looking back. I went full in and it got my shirt and everything and there was one moment where I sunk in, I was steady for minute. I couldn’t get myself out. 

“I called Joe, and he was saying, ‘well if I go in, I sink and then both of us aren’t getting out.’ So I had to crawl and use every part of my body to get out,” Kim said to ESPN. 

Skovron—who caddied for Rickie Fowler for more than a decade before taking Kim’s bag—had a similar account of the situation, but noted that he tried to convince his player not to embark on the search.

“I told him, I was like, man—because there were two balls that were sitting up there and would actually be hittable if you could get in there and stand there, but [a volunteer] said they’d been there for a while.

“I was like 'it’s not worth it, let’s not do this, bud.' But he was committed to trying to find it," Skovron said.

Skovron ultimately stuck to his guns when Kim requested his help getting out of the sticky situation—he sensibly didn’t want their issues to double. 

“The problem was, when he was stuck, I was like ‘are you sure you can’t move?’ Because then I would have gotten stuck too and then we would have had a disaster, so there was no way," Skovron said. "I couldn’t go in there. I took a couple steps and that was about as far as I could go. The next step was going to be down there. 

“I was like, he better be able to get out, and he got out." 

A freshly bathed Kim ultimately took a drop on the opposite side of the water, which intersects the 498-yard par-4, hit the green and saved bogey. 

With rolled-up soaked pants and only one upper layer on, Kim then went on to make three consecutive pars during his final stretch of the day to post a 3-over 73. 

“I miss the days that I played on a Tour without cameras,” Kim told SkySports. 

Skovron, who appeared to be staring at ESPN cameras for part of the sequence, explained that he wasn’t aware the situation was being filmed live, but he did have full conviction that it would make the rounds. 

“I figured it would. Of course it would," he said. "There are cameras everywhere.”