There are many ‘marriage advocates’ on the PGA Tour. A representative player is Jack Nicklaus (83, USA), who holds the title with the most wins (18 wins) in major tournaments. He, who has been married for over 60 years, said, “His wife has been absolutely supportive of my job. So she never had to feel guilty for being a ‘bad dad’ (neglecting at home).”
Rory McIlroy (34, Northern Ireland), who fell into a slump and regained the world ranking after marriage, said, “I became a better player after marriage.” Kevin Strillman (45, USA), who won two tours, also said this. “Before marriage, I was in a hurry to pass the cut, but after marriage, I passed the cut in 16 consecutive games. It was thanks to her wife who became a strong supporter.”
I think we should also include Kim Si-woo (28) on this list. At the end of last year, after marrying professional golfer Oh Ji-hyeon (27), she lifted the championship cup in the tournament she participated in as a “honeymoon”. On the 16th (Korean time), he won the PGA Tour Sony Open (total prize money of 7.9 million dollars) held in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA with a final total of 18 under par and 262 strokes.
This is the first win in two years since the American Express in January 2021 (4 wins in total). The prize money is 1.422 million dollars (approximately 1.75 billion won). Kim Si-woo said, “I came to Hawaii last week as a honeymoon with his wife.” He was able to enjoy it like a trip,” he said.
○KLPGA 7 wins Oh Ji-hyun, taking a leave of absenceKim Si-woo confessed that his confidence had hit rock bottom over the past two years. He said in an interview that day, “I was mistaken for being a bigger player, and that held me back.” It was worth it. It was because he stood out as a ‘golf genius’ from an early age, such as passing the PGA Tour Qualifying School as the youngest (17 years and 5 months) and winning the Players Championship as the youngest player to win the ‘5th major tournament’ (21 years and 10 months).
However, there came a time when he also hesitated, and the gap was filled by outstanding juniors such as Lim Seong-jae (25) and Kim Joo-hyung (21). Siwoo Kim’s winning clock stopped at American Express two years ago.
At this time, the person who kept his side was Oh Ji-hyun. Oh Ji-hyun, who is known to have started dating Kim Si-woo two years ago, supported Si-woo Kim by visiting PGA tour venues while playing on the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour.
He himself is a star who has won 7 wins on the KLPGA tour, but he took a leave of absence (2023 season) to support his family. A person in the golf world who knows the couple Si-woo Kim and Ji-hyun Oh well hinted, “Ji-Hyun Oh took almost all of the wedding preparations, saying that the prospective groom shouldn’t be stressed.” Kim Si-woo said, “(Oh) Ji-hyun had a hard time preparing for the wedding while playing her own game,” and “I am very grateful and sorry for preparing well.”
○’Chip-in birdie’ in the 17th hole crisis
Kim Si-woo, who started in a tie for 5th place, 3 strokes behind the lead, played aggressively from the beginning. After catching three consecutive birdies in holes 1 to 3, he joined the competition for the championship, and Hayden Berkeley (26, USA) slipped bogey on hole 11 (par 3) and rose to the joint lead.
The decisive match was the 17th hole (par 3). Buckley, who played from one hole behind, caught a birdie in the 16th hole (par 4), and Kim Si-woo, who was one stroke behind, faced a crisis when his tee shot went over the green at this hole. Downhill with a chip shot left. In a situation where even a little count could not guarantee par, Kim Si-woo put it in as it was. At that time, the cheers of the galleries who saw Berkeley’s birdie on the 16th hole were heard even to the green on the 17th hole, where Kim Si-woo was located, but Kim Si-woo did not care. Kim Si-woo said, “I heard the cheers from the 16th hole, so I thought I had nothing more to lose,” and “I hit aggressively and it matched.” 메이저놀이터
Kim Si-woo, who made a tie, turned another crisis into an opportunity in the 18th hole (par 5). The tee shot fell into the bunker on the left side of the fairway. After discussing with the caddy for a long time, he left 236 yards to the pin and attacked the green directly instead of cutting it off.
After leaving the iron, the ball rolled in the back wind and landed on the green. Then a 2-putt birdie. Berkeley also aimed for a birdie at this hole, but Kim Si-woo’s victory was decided as a birdie putt of about 3m turned away from the hole. ESPN, an American sports channel, evaluated, “Siwoo Kim, who missed the green on the 17th hole and the fairway on the 18th hole, was able to win the championship by catching two consecutive birdies.”
Kim Si-woo, who won 4 wins in his career, kept the 2nd place in the category of ‘most wins by a Korean player on the PGA Tour’, following Choi Kyung-joo (53), who had 8 wins. Yang Yong-eun (51), Bae Sang-moon (37), Lim Seong-jae, Lee Gyeong-hoon (32), and Kim Joo-hyung, who each won two wins, follow Kim Si-woo. Kim Si-woo will compete in the American Express competition to be held in La Quinta, California, USA on the 19th (local time) and aim to recapture the trophy in this competition two years after 2021.