Golfer apologizes for damaging locker after playoff loss at Genesis

Tom Kim’s frustration seems to have boiled over Sunday following a playoff loss to Ben An at the DP World Tour’s Genesis Championship in his native South Korea.

Kim, a week after missing the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open, where he was the two-time defending champion, had a putt on the 72nd hole to win the event, but it lipped out, and he and fellow International Presidents Cup star Ben An marched to a playoff.

In said playoff, An made a birdie, and a mistake on Kim’s approach shot into the par-5 green resulted in a bogey, giving An his first victory in 9 years.

That’s when, according to Korean news outlet Yonhap, Kim retreated to the locker room, where his frustration was taken out on a locker door, breaking it.

The Korean PGA Tour, which co-sanctioned the event, plans to pay Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea for the damage and will ask Kim to cover those costs. They are also considering options for disciplinary proceedings against Kim, per the report.

On Monday, Kim put out a statement on his Instagram account, apologizing for his actions and saying the matter was considered closed after speaking with DP World Tour and KPGA officials.

Kim won the KPGA’s Player of the Year award in 2021, also having the highest earnings and lowest scoring average that year. In 2022 is when he broke out on the PGA Tour, winning the Wyndham Championship and then the Shriners Children’s Open in a span of three months.

This story was updated to add new information.