Tom Kim Story From Will Zalatoris Going Viral as Young Golfer Impresses at Kapalua

If you thought 20-year-old Tom Kim couldn’t get any more likable, think again.

Kim burst onto the golf scene this fall, and since then, he’s become a quick fan favorite. The Seoul, South Korea native captured two PGA Tour victories in a matter of months and put on an animated Presidents Cup performance for Team International, full of walked-in putts and fist bumps.

Now, unsurprisingly, he’s starting off the calendar year at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui, Hawai’i with some more impressive golf. Opening rounds of 65 and 69 put Kim at solo fifth heading into the weekend.

Kim may be rolling in birdies at Kapalua, but it’s his personality that’s really stealing the show. 

Kim recently established Dallas as his U.S. home base for the year, where he joined two private clubs: Trinity Forest and Dallas National. The young superstar did not hold back when telling the media about settling into his new residence, even sharing stories about eating Christmas dinner with Dallas local Jordan Spieth and babysitting his one-year-old son, Sammy. 

On Friday, Will Zalatoris, another Dallas-based Tour player, added to the growing Kim lore.

Although Zalatoris has yet to play a round with the 20-year-old, he told the media that his home club, Dallas National, asked him to write a letter of recommendation on behalf of Kim’s membership application. 

“They asked me for a recommendation—or a letter of recommendation, which of course he didn't need it, but it's just the protocol-type thing,” said the world No. 7. 

Zalatoris’s letter may have been purely customary, but the story he told the club to give them a taste of Kim’s character is priceless. 

“They said, Well, you know, what's he like? And I said, Well, this pretty much sums it up. When I went and watched the first day of the Presidents Cup, it was like the fourth hole. I was trying to stay out of everybody's way, even though I was inside the ropes, and K.H. Lee was hitting a shot, and Tom came 40 yards off the tee to come over and say ‘Hi’ and check in on me, and I'm like, ‘Dude, you’re playing in the Presidents Cup. You don't need to say hi to me,’” said Zalatoris. 

At the time, Zalatoris was recovering from two herniated discs in his back and had to sit out from competing with Team USA. Apparently, the finished recommendation letter from Zalatoris was “like two sentences,” but with the addition of the funny Presidents Cup anecdote, that’s all the FedEx St. Jude Championship winner needed to describe Kim. 

“He's so fun to be around,” said Zalatoris. “He's a guy that I feel like I've known forever.”