Presidents Cup 2022: Inside Tom Kim’s journey from ‘the youngest one out there’ to PGA Tour winner | Golf News and Tour Information

My real name is Joo Hyung. As a child, I loved Thomas the Tank Engine so much that I had people call me Thomas. It evolved into Tom. Even my older brother calls me Tom. My family moved to Australia after living in South Korea and briefly in China. My parents wanted us to learn English. (It’s one of three languages I speak now.) I played cricket, basketball, Australian football, but nothing clicked until I tried golf at age 6. It came naturally to me. Even though my dad was a mini-tour pro turned teaching pro, golf was never forced on me. But golf was the one thing I never got sick of.

The cost of living in Australia was rising, so our family chose to move home to Asia. My parents decided that the Philippines was the best place for our family and my golf. I was 13 when we moved there. My parents home-schooled me so that I could play as much golf as possible. In the Philippines, golf isn’t a huge sport. I was lucky; one of the best clubs in the Philippines asked me to play for its team, which gave me full access to the club’s facilities. I remember being so excited that I had a place I could practice. That’s when I got serious about developing my game and turning professional. I’m one of only two players to make it out of that system onto a world-ranking tour.

I was 15 when I turned pro. I’d won all of the big amateur tournaments in the Philippines….