Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Tuesday 16 May 2017
Kim joins elite group and has time to show where he belongs

DOUG FERGUSON ship last August and won
AP Golf Writer by five.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. By winning The Players
(AP) — Si Woo Kim earned Championship, Kim be-
access to a room reserved came only the fourth play-
for winners of The Players er over the last 25 years
Championship. He now with multiple victories be-
shares locker No. 4 with fore turning 22. The others
Lanny Wadkins, the former were Tiger Woods, Sergio
PGA champion and Ryder Garcia and Jordan Spieth.
Cup stalwart. Locker No. 5 Not to be overlooked is
belongs to Lee Trevino, the how Kim reached this
six-time major champion. stage in the first place. Five
Both are in a far more ex- years ago, Kim decided to
clusive club located about try Q-school on the PGA
30 minutes away at the Tour because it was the fi-
World Golf Hall of Fame. nal year for players to gain
Kim is still 21. instant access to the big
The strength of The Play- leagues.
ers Championship is the Kim went through all four
depth of its field, the size of stages (starting with a pre-
its purse and the pedigree qualifier) and earned his
of so many winners. Now card. The problem was that
that Kim has joined the list, Kim could not become
all but 12 winners in the 44- a PGA Tour member until
year history also are major he turned 18 the following
champions. Si Woo Kim of South Korea, celebrates winning The Players Championship golf tournament Sun- June, so 2013 effectively
By all accounts, the South day, May 14, 2017, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. was a lost year. Kim wound
Korean is just getting start- Associated Press up playing eight PGA Tour
ed. Course at TPC Sawgrass. gory in golf. Kim was at No. FedEx Cup playoff event). events and didn’t make a
Kim showed remarkable And maybe the most sur- 183. He was No. 18 in the world cut. He spent a full year on
calm amid inevitable cha- prising. As for his results? when the Australian won at the Web.com Tour in 2014
os at the TPC Sawgrass to Statistics and scores going He did not have a top 20 Sawgrass. and had only one top 10,
become the youngest win- into The Players Champi- all year. He had only made Perks was No. 203 in the and the following year he
ner of The Players Cham- onship would not have led two cuts against a full field world who had never won won the Stonebrae Classic
pionship. He took the lead anyone to pay attention (Bay Hill and the Texas on the PGA Tour or com- and earned his way back
with a 25-foot birdie putt to Kim. The tour’s “strokes Open). Kim, who has been peted in The Players Cham- to the big leagues.
on the seventh hole and gained” statistic measures dealing with a nagging pionship until the 35-year- “I was a little pressured
never gave it back. He how a player performs wrist injury, also withdrew old Kiwi chipped in for ea- that I qualified at Q-school
missed the green 10 times against the field and has from three tournaments this gle on the 16th hole, made when I was 17 years old,”
and saved par each time. become the most reliable year after opening rounds a 30-foot birdie putt on Kim said through a trans-
Playing in the penultimate standard. Going into last of 83, 81 and 76. the island-green 17th and lator. “Because I was very
group, he had the sec- week, Kim was ranked out- So is he another Adam chipped in for par from be- pressured, I think I didn’t
ond-best score in the final side the top 200 in three Scott or another Craig hind the 18th green to win do well for two years. How-
round (69), and he was the categories related to the Perks? Scott won The Play- by two. That turned out to ever, the Web.com Tour
only player in the field to long game (driving, ap- ers in 2004, though by then be his only victory. experience actually really
not make bogey. proach shots and tee-to- he already had five victo- This was the second PGA helped me to get more ex-
It will rank as one of the green). ries worldwide, including Tour title for Kim. He shot perience. And from that ex-
best Sunday performanc- He was better in putting, the Deutsche Bank Cham- 60 in the second round of perience, I think that made
es on the scary Stadium the most important cate- pionship (before it was a the Wyndham Champion- me win this tournament.”q

Rory McIlroy says tests show

no new injury to his back

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. land because of mild pain The four-time major cham-
(AP) — Rory McIlroy says he felt during The Players pion had a hairline rib frac-
tests indicate no new injury Championship. He said in a ture in January and missed
to his back, only what he statement Monday that he seven weeks.
described as a “low-grade is entered in the BMW PGA McIlroy played four times
response” to his rib injury in Championship next week in six weeks through the
January. at Wentworth and will de- Masters before taking
McIlroy had an MRI upon cide early next week if he a three-week break to
returning to Northern Ire- can play. get married. He says he
might have aggravated
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, reacts to his putt on the second the injury by practicing
green, during the final round of The Players Championship golf three days in a row to get
tournament Sunday, May 14, 2017, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. ready for The Players.q
Associated Press