Failed 'pond skip' can't dampen Tom Kim's Masters enthusiasm

Updated Apr. 4, 2023 5:59 p.m. ET

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Regardless of how Tom Kim's first Masters turns out, he'll leave Augusta National with some great memories.

Getting invited to play a practice round with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Fred Couples before a coveted major tournament will do that for a budding 20-year-old star.

“A dream come true,” Kim said Tuesday of his Monday practice round that included a little bit of traditional tomfoolery on the par-3 16th hole.

At Woods' urging, all four golfers simultaneously attempted to skip their golf balls across the pond and onto the green. While the other three managed to get their balls to hop across the water, Kim misfired, sending a line drive over the pond where it hit the green and kept on going.

Looking back, Kim could only chuckle at his failed attempt.

“I tried to hit it a little low and just airmailed the green,” said Kim, who won twice on the PGA Tour last year. "It didn’t come out low enough. I hit it pin-high, and I’m just glad I didn’t hit anyone.”

But Kim wasn't going to let a failed trick shot ruin his day.

His first memories of the Masters are of Woods' famous chip in on that same hole in 2005 when the five-time champion got his Nike ball to bend along the gentle slope of the green before coming to rest on the edge of the cup and then falling in, setting off a raucous celebration.

“For as long as I can remember, that was the biggest thing,” Kim said of Woods' epic birdie.

Now Kim has his own memory from 16 to cherish.

“It was a dream come true for me, really,” Kim said. “My first memory of just watching golf was the Masters and Tiger winning it, and for me to be able to share my first official practice round with him was a dream come true. And to not just play with Tiger but to have Fred Couples and Rory join us, it was a dream.”

MASTERS PAIRINGS

The Masters is treating this tournament with no significant changes, from the players it chose for formal press conferences right down to the tee times.

There were no awkward groups of LIV Golf players and PGA Tour loyalists. Rory McIlroy won’t be paired with Patrick Reed.

Phil Mickelson is playing with Tom Hoge and Si Woo Kim. Cameron Smith should have a quiet time playing alongside former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Sungjae Im of South Korea.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods will be alongside Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland, while McIlroy has 20-year-old Tom Kim and Match Play winner Sam Burns.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler has a traditional grouping with the U.S. Amateur champion, Sam Bennett, with Max Homa along for the ride.

However, none of the LIV players can be found in the four featured pairings that will have their own streaming channel during the opening round.

TIGER MEMORIES

Players often notice subtle changes to Augusta National, real or imagined, that are not recorded as official updates. One of them might be the 16th green. Masters records indicate the last change was in 1973 when the left section of the pond was filled.

Not according to Tiger Woods.

He says the green has been redesigned since his famous chip-in in 2005 on the par 3. The topic came up Tuesday when asked if he had ever tried to replicate the shot, in which he pitched it up the slope and watched it make a U-turn, trickle down, pause on the edge of the cup and drop for birdie.

“Yeah, the green has changed. There is a new back, deeper hole location there that they tried to fit,” Woods said. “But my chip there in 2005 is not the same. The green is not the same as it was then.”

Woods doesn't pay attention to the chip, anyway. He says when he sees a replay of that iconic shot, he tries to figure out how he got there in the first place.

“I did not draw a bad lie on that tee shot to hit it that bad,” he said. “If you want to go back and see the chip, OK, that's cool. But to hit an 8-iron that bad and that far off line, and I had a perfect lie, was not very good.”

THOMAS CONTROLLING TENSION

Justin Thomas arrived at Augusta National this week with a new approach for his eighth Masters — which includes putting less pressure on himself.

“I feel like in the past, I’ve come in here so tense, like ‘Oh, I’m geared up and I’m ready to go.’ Like I’m going to tear this place up,” Thomas said. “And just as soon as one thing goes wrong, I mean, my mind is in a blender. It’s like, ‘Well, I didn’t think I was going to hit it over here. I thought I was going to hit over here.'

"Next thing you know, you shoot 73, 74 the first day you’re just playing catch-up.”

Thomas has won the PGA Championship twice, but has only two top-10 finishes at the Masters. He came in fourth in 2020.

Thomas has vowed to trust himself this week, even if a shot doesn't land where he hopes it will.

“I definitely think that you can want things too bad and try too hard,” Thomas said.

TIGER AND CUTS

Tiger Woods has been a strong proponent of cuts on the PGA Tour, and he's holding out hope that limited field events — like the Genesis Invitational at Riviera that he hosts — will still have a 36-hole cut.

The eight designated events during the regular season will have fields between 70 and 80 players for a $20 million purse.

“I certainly am pushing for my event to have a cut,” Woods said. “I think that maybe the player-hosted events may have cuts. ... That is still in flux.”

Woods said he is talking with Jack Nicklaus, who created the Memorial, along with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and the tour board.

“I still think that there needs to be a penalty for not playing well,” he said. “Every event shouldn’t be always guaranteed 72 holes. I think that there should be a cut there. But we are trying to figure that out.”

___

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed. ___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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