Written by Jason Sobel at ESPN.com
The 21-year-old with the nerves of steel had just successfully made the most important swing of his young career, a wedge that found dry land on TPC Sawgrass’ infamous butterfly-inducing, water-enclosed 17th hole, leaving left his caddie, Mark Carens, offering a pronounced sigh of relief. He followed with the most important two-putt of his young career, a lag and tap-in that left him 3 strokes ahead of the field.
It was then that Si Woo Kim coolly walked off the green while being serenaded by some of the few rowdy fans on this uncommonly calm Sunday afternoon. “One more hole!” they chanted. “One more hole!”
Kim shot them a glance as if to say, “Yeah, no kidding,” never breaking stride until the 18th tee box, where he striped a 3-wood like he’d been in this position a hundred times before.
One of the inherent beauties of the Players Championship is that it mirrors the Masters Tournament. They are each annually held on the same course, which means longtime observers can learn every nook and cranny of the property — from the dangerous curves around hazards to the subtle breaks of putts.
There also exists a familiarity of the atmosphere. By the time a player reaches his second shot on the par-5 16th hole in the final round, he is fully surrounded by a maelstrom of activity around him. The buzz is palpable. It grows to a crescendo around that 17th green, then lingers for the duration of the onerous final hole.
Well, it usually does. By the time Kim reached his ball in the 18th fairway, that din had faded to a steady lull. When he delicately knocked his second shot safely short of the green, it hardly caused a ripple. To call the ensuing reaction a smattering of applause is an overstatement. A few people in the gallery clapped, none of them lustily.
Maybe he isn’t flashy enough. Maybe he isn’t accomplished enough. Maybe it was the cultural barrier. Maybe it was the discernible differential between him and the next-closest competitor, which essentially rendered the final result a done deal.
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