PGA Tour star Tom Kim apologizes for ‘broken locker door’ after loss at Genesis Championship in Korea
PGA Tour star Tom Kim was forced to apologize after letting his frustration boil over the weekend.
The 22-year-old suffered heartbreak on Sunday when he narrowly lost the DP World Tour Genesis Championship in a playoff to fellow South Korean Byeong Hun An.
It was the second playoff loss of the year for Kim, who apparently took his anger out in the locker room at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea.
The aspiring golf star reportedly broke down a locker room door out of frustration when a photo showed the front of the clubhouse room completely blown off its hinges.
The South Korean player apologized on his Instagram account for his behavior in the locker room.
PGA Tour star Tom Kim apologized after reports he damaged his locker
Kim said he wanted to get the information about the incident directly from him and shared that he had already raised the issue with the KPGA and the DP World Tour, apologizing to both and offering to pay for the damage.
“After the loss, I was frustrated, yes, absolutely,” Kim said in the statement. ‘[B]But I can assure you with absolute truth that I had no intention of damaging any part of the locker, not a single piece.
“I brought it up with that [DP World Tour] and the KPGA said immediately after the incident that the door came loose. For safety reasons we had to pull it out completely. I also informed them that I was prepared to cover all costs of the damage.’
“I’m grateful to everyone who has reached out with messages of support, but to them and anyone else I may have let down, I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” Kim added.
There were reports that Kim would face disciplinary action from the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association over the incident. However, he said that after his apology and explanation, “the matter was considered closed.” He apparently didn’t believe he would be sanctioned.
Kim’s manager Ben Harrison insisted to Golf.com that neither he nor his client had been informed of possible disciplinary action.
“He was portrayed as someone who destroyed a locker and basically stormed out like a baby,” Harrison told the outlet.
The 22-year-old lost the DP World Tour Genesis Championship in a playoff to Byeong Hun An
The 22-year-old was reacting to missing a putt on the 18th green in Sunday’s final round
“He didn’t do that.” He broke the locker because he opened it too – he didn’t take a bat and break it. “He literally grabbed the handle of the locker and opened it extremely aggressively and a hinge broke.”
Kim lost in a playoff Sunday when he hit his third shot into the stands on the par-5 18th and made bogey. He then secured victory with another birdie.
It was the second time in a month that Kim had to publicly apologize.
Last month at the Presidents Cup in Montreal, Kim apologized to US captain Jim Furyk and Kim ran against Schauffele, “cursed” and Patrick Cantlay.
