Tom Kim bathed in the river at Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday afternoon.
As it turns out, this is the exact situation Kim found himself falling behind during his opening round at the PGA Championship.
Kim hit his car in the water — a well, in the mud — at 4 p.m. on Thursday. He began wading through the weeds to search for his ball, as one does. But when he got back to the driveway, Kim was completely covered in mud.
He was everyone on him.
In Kim’s defense, it appeared he was trying to mitigate the damage. He took off his shoes and rolled up his pants to his knees, but didn’t seem to do anything to help at all.
So, Kim went back to the creek that ran through the driveway and jumped in.
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“Once I got in, it was kind of a sketch,” he said on ESPN. “But I mean, it’s a major championship. I’m fighting for every stroke I have. And then it gets dark. Once I’m in on my feet, there’s no need to look back. I’m all in, I’ve got my jersey on and everything. There was one point where I got covered.” I was stationary for a minute, I couldn’t get myself out.”
The “bathroom” was actually very good. Kim removed most of the muck from him, or as much as he could, though he finished the rest of the round with his pants rolled up.
“It couldn’t get any worse,” he said, laughing. “I was wet enough, so I thought I might go into the water and take a shower.”
And after all that, he’s still saving his ghost in the hole — which, frankly, feels pretty good considering the circumstances.
Kim finished his tour with a 3-over-73, five behind leader Eric Cole. Then Kim actually doubled down on ESPN while checking his phone after the tour, realizing everyone saw what happened to him.
Next time, let the ball go.
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