Michael Kim joined many professional golfers in wishing Tiger Woods a happy 50th birthday this week.
Kim is 32 years old, so he would have grown up watching Woods dominate the sport in the 2000s.
As a result, Kim was so excited to meet Woods for the first time on his PGA Tour debut at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2014.
Kim recently explained what happened when he met Woods at Torrey Pines and how he played in his next round.
- READ MORE: The remarkable impact Tiger Woods had on TV ratings during his first year on the PGA Tour
What is your favourite moment from Tiger Woods’ career?
Without any shadow of a doubt, his 3-iron out of the fairway bunker at the 2002 PGA. Easily the best shot anyone has ever hit in history!
How Michael Kim played in his next round after meeting Tiger Woods
Kim’s PGA Tour debut got off to a solid start, shooting a two-under-par 70 in his opening round.
His first day then got even better when he met Tiger Woods on the driving range at Torrey Pines.
“In 2014, I got a sponsor’s exemption to the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines as my first pro start ever,” Kim recalled on X.
“I played a decent first round and headed to the back of the range, where I ran into Sean Foley, whom I had met a few months prior. I started hitting balls, and about 15 min later, Tiger Woods showed up to hit some balls with Sean.
“I was almost done hitting balls at that point, but I wanted to get a picture with Tiger, so I just kept hitting balls until Tiger was done. As we both walked away, I asked Tiger to take a picture, which he thankfully obliged. Sean took the picture for me.”
However, meeting Woods did not have a positive impact on Kim’s second round of the tournament.
He shot an eight-over-par 80 and missed the cut by six strokes, but his interaction with Woods kept his spirits high.
“I played awful Friday and [missed the cut], but was super happy that I at least got a pic with my golfing hero at the place where I grew my dreams as a pro golfer,” Kim continued.
“Happy birthday to the GOAT Tiger Woods and also thanks to (now my swing coach) Sean Foley for taking the pic haha.”
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Michael Kim’s favorite under-the-radar Tiger Woods moment
Golf journalist Kyle Porter recently asked his followers on X to name their favorite underrated Tiger Woods moment.
Everyone remembers Woods’ chip-in at The Masters or his playoff-forcing putt at the 2008 US Open, but he also hit many amazing shots that people will have forgotten.
Kim replied to Porter’s post with his answer: Woods’ chip-in on the final hole at the 2001 World Cup of Golf.
Playing alongside David Duval for the United States, Woods needed to hole the eagle chip to force a playoff.
“When he chipped in when partnering with David Duval,” Kim said. “He needed to chip it in to win, I think… unless that’s not subtle enough haha.”
