MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Si Woo Kim had a forgettable end to his week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Playing in the second group off Sunday morning at TPC Southwind, Kim was even par for the day when he stepped onto the tee of the 155-yard 11th hole, which features an island green.
Kim’s tee shot drifted right and found the water.
He moved up to the drop zone, a 96-yard shot.
His next shot splashed, too. And the one after that. And the one after that. And the one after that. Five balls in all.
Finally, he knocked his wedge shot over the flag, onto the back collar. He chipped to a foot and tapped in for a 13 – the highest score recorded on a par 3 on Tour (non-major) since at least 1983, when the Tour began tracking such statistics.
Impressively, Kim bounced back with a birdie on the next hole. And even after making double bogey on the par-3 14th – again, after a water ball – he ripped off three birdies in a row. Save for the 13, he played the other back-nine holes in 2 under, eventually signing for a 8-over 78 that put him in last place (13-over 293) in the no-cut event. For his troubles, he still took home $35,000.
Kim declined to comment about the disastrous hole when asked by a PGA Tour media official after his round. His playing partner, Cam Davis, said on the way to the parking lot, “He just kept landing it on the bank and it kicked in. Maybe one too many attempts at the flag.”