‘New groom’ Kim Si-woo (28) reported his first win in 2023 on the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour. Even a thrilling come-from-behind victory after a month of marriage was met with double congratulations.
Siwoo Kim hit 6 under par 64 with 8 birdies and 2 bogeys in the final 4th round of the Sony Open (total prize money of $7.9 million) held at the Waialay Country Club (par 70, 744 yards) in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA on the 16th (Korean time). . Kim Si-woo beat Hayden Berkeley (USA) by one stroke with a final total of 18 under par 262 strokes and rose to first place. The winning prize is $1.422 million (1.76 billion won).
Kim Si-woo, who was only tied for 16th in the second round, jumped to a tie for 5th place, 3 strokes away from the lead in the 3rd round, and then took a come-from-behind victory by reducing 6 strokes in the final round.
On the final day, Siwoo Kim caught birdies in a row on holes 1 to 3 and raised the rankings with terrifying momentum. The 17th hole (par 3) chip birdie was a game that changed the flow to Kim Si-woo.
On the 17th hole, Kim Si-woo put his tee shot 8m away from the green. Before Kim Si-woo made his second shot, Berkeley, his competitor, made a birdie in the 16th hole, and the shouts of the gallery could be heard all the way to the 17th hole.
However, Kim Si-woo did not waver and calmly chipped with a wedge, and the ball was sucked into the hole. Kim Si-woo, who was in second place behind Berkeley by one stroke, rose to the joint lead with this birdie.
Kim Si-woo said, “I heard the shout and knew that Berkeley had a birdie. It was a difficult lie, but I thought I had nothing to lose and hit aggressively. It seems that the flow came to me as it entered.” It was the place he chose to win. 바카라사이트
In the 18th hole (par 5), Kim Si-woo also added a birdie with an aggressive course attack to rise to the sole lead. Buckley, who was playing in the championship group, chased after Si-woo Kim, who finished the round first, but failed to make birdie putts on both the 17th and 18th holes, finishing in second place by one stroke.
On the 18th of last month, Kim Si-woo married Oh Ji-hyun, who is active on the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour. He and his wife, Oh Ji-hyun, stood by while watching Buckley play.
Last season, Kim Si-woo failed to add a win. He did not even make it to the Tour Championship, the final game of the season, where only the top players in the FedEx Cup rankings participate. Then, after attending the Presidents Cup in September on the recommendation of general manager Trevor Immelman, his play improved noticeably. And after his marriage, he even won the championship in the first competition he participated in this year.
Kim Si-woo passed the PGA Tour Qualifying School in 2012 when he was a high school student as the youngest ever (17 years, 5 months, 6 days). And he won his first win at the Wyndham Championship in 2016, and became the youngest winner at the Players Championship in 2017. However, the pace of adding multipliers has been slow since then. After not winning the championship cup since the American Express in January 2021, this time he won his 4th career victory in 2 years.
Kim Si-woo said, “I was lucky to win 1 and 2, and I felt a lot of pressure after that. He seems to have mistaken me for a bigger player,” he looked back. He said, “It was the first competition after marriage. Jihyun came with me and gave me strength by walking with me throughout the round. Thank you so much. Both are delighted,” he said. He said that participating in the Presidents Cup last year was a big help, and looked back, saying, “I got a lot of help in managing my mentality and how to wait while playing with good players.”
After getting married last month, Siwoo Kim and Jihyun Oh took a break at their house in Dallas, USA, and headed to Hawaii last week for their honeymoon. Kim Si-woo thanked his wife Oh Ji-hyeon, saying, “I went to eat delicious food and enjoyed the tournament comfortably enough to make me think, ‘Is it true that I am participating in the contest?’”.
The American Express, which will be held next week, is a competition with a winning experience. Kim Si-woo expressed his determination, saying, “I hope that the next championship will come quickly as this year’s championship came quickly.”
Meanwhile, at the Sony Open, Ahn Byeong-hun and Kim Seong-hyun tied for 12th with a total of 12-under-268 strokes. Lee Kyung-hoon tied for 28th with a 10-under 270 stroke.