Tom Kim mud-covered incident goes viral at PGA Championship

Tom Kim has emerged as one of the PGA Tour’s most popular players in the last 12 months and golf fans weren’t found wanting for entertainment from the 20-year-old at the PGA Championship

It was late in the day in the first round of the PGA Championship as players faced a race against time, and daylight, to complete their cards.

And as the sun set at Oak Hill, one player suffered an untimely yet hilarious setback that unsurprisingly went viral on social media.

Tom Kim suddenly appeared on our screens with the bottom half of his body covered in mud, with patches smattered across his white shirt.

The commentary team was in stitches, as presumably were the viewers at home. Kim had been submerged in the penalty area on the 6th hole after an errant drive.

Here is what happened in his words:

“The world has seen enough of it already, but I hit it over in the mud and I was hoping I was able to find it – I was hoping they wouldn’t show this!” he told Sky Sports.

“I thought it was worth finding and as soon as I went in – I was thinking about not going in but as soon as I got my feet wet, it was too late to come back from it.

“I wasn’t able to find my ball and there was a moment where a whole part of my legs were in the mud and I wasn’t able to get myself out for a minute.

“I said to Joe (Skovron, his caddie) I might as well go in the water and wash myself off. I took a bath over there! I thought it would be better than having mud, so I thought it was better for me to wash my pants off.

“The worst thing was, I apologise to Nike, but the shirt was just completely ruined – it wasn’t that bad (cold), but the mud was getting really cold under my feet.

“Once I got out, I was focused on trying to get my shot ready – I’ve had better days for sure.

“I miss days when I played on a tour without cameras!”

Despite the unexpected nature of this incident, Kim was born to entertain on the golf course – and not only with the quality of his game.

The 20-year-old, who has already won twice on the PGA Tour, finished his second nine with three pars with his mud-covered trousers rolled up to his knees.

Kim was one of the fortunate ones to finish his round on Thursday – albeit on 3-over-par.

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