A little over a month ago, Michael Kim left Utah feeling down on his luck. He had just missed his third straight cut and dropped further down the FedEx Cup Fall rankings and outside the top 125. His PGA Tour membership for 2025 was now in tremendous peril.
But luckily for him, Kim’s swing coach, Sean Foley, saved the day. Foley, who spent four years working with Tiger Woods over a decade ago, could not catch a flight out. Hurricane Milton had shut down all of Florida, and because of that, Foley could not make it back to his home in Orlando. So, Foley spent an extra day working with Kim, primarily on his ball position.
“I struggled a little bit off the tee of the opening round of the Black Desert tournament,” Kim said Thursday.
Indeed, he did. In the first two rounds, Kim ranked 96th and 84th in strokes gained off the tee. He could not put himself in a prime position with his tee ball, so it’s no wonder he needed to try something new.
“We made a little bit of a ball position change,” Kim added.
“I missed the cut, but I knew I was on the right track.”
Well, that change has helped the former California Golden Bear exponentially. His final round 62 at the Shriners Children’s Open the following week in Las Vegas propelled him to a top-5 finish. He also moved up to 112th in the process.
Three weeks later, Kim tied for 30th at the World Wide Technologies Championship in Mexico—not a terrific result but certainly better than missing the cut altogether. And then, most recently, Kim finished T-12 in Bermuda and began this week’s RSM Classic ranked 110th in the standings. He will have a PGA Tour membership in 2025, as it’s mathematically impossible for him to drop out of the 125, even if he misses the cut.
But after round one in Georgia, Kim sits well above the cut-line. He carded a 5-under 65 and sits in a tie for sixth.
“I hit the ball really well today off the tee especially,” Kim said of his first round.
“I just never really got myself in too much trouble and was able to hit a lot of greens. Got pretty lucky with my second shot on my 10th hole to go in for an eagle and overall really happy with the start.”
Having started on the 10th hole, Kim’s hole-out eagle from 142 yards actually came on the par-4 1st hole on the Seaside Course. It was an added bonus.
But having Foley as a coach and a mentor is an even better bonus.
“We’ll see what happens,” Kim said when asked about his goals for this week.
“I’ve tried to set higher standards for myself. I spent so long missing so many cuts a few years back that you end up only looking at the cutline, but Sean and I have talked a lot about raising the standards and really trying to go for a win. If I’m able to put myself in contention on Sunday, I think that would be great, and maybe even pull off a victory.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
