“Very fortunate” - Tom Kim overjoyed as he joins Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy for early Masters practice round at Augusta National
For Masters rookie Tom Kim, the first practice round at Augusta National was 'special' as he got to play nine holes alongside Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, and Rory McIlroy for one of the first foursomes off the second nine.
Kim, who was the only one to reach the recently designed 13th hole in just two strokes, said he was grateful for the chance to practice alongside the golf legends.
He told Golfweek:
“I was very fortunate to get this opportunity.”
Kim had a memorable 2022 as he won the Wyndham Championship and Shriners Children's Open last year, becoming the first player since Tiger to claim multiple titles on the PGA Tour before turning 21. The young golfer also got to compete at the Presidents Cup, which impressed the likes of Couples.
Couples was quoted saying via Golf Week:
“I love Tom Kim. He set this up at the Presidents Cup, and I think he was a little excited to play with Rory and Tiger. He had a blast, and they love him. He hits the ball really, really good.”
While the 1992 champion is making his 38th appearance at Augusta National, Kim is a Masters rookie this week.
Masters 2023 schedule
Here's the schedule for the upcoming Masters tournament:
- Sunday, April 2: Arrival of the Players and First Practice Round
- Monday, April 3: Second Practice Round
- Tuesday, April 4: Third Practice Round and the Champions Dinner
- Wednesday, April 5: More Practice Rounds and the Par-3 Contest
- Thursday, April 6: Honorary Starters Ceremony and the Round 1
- Friday, April 7: Round 2
- Saturday, April 8: Round 3
- Sunday, April 9: Round 4, Green Jacket Felicitation, and Trophy Presentation
The field for the 2023 Masters
The Masters has the shortest field of all four major tournaments, which is why several prominent names are missing from the field for the Augusta National event.
Here's a look at the field for the upcoming Masters:
- Abraham Ancer
- Sam Bennett
- Keegan Bradley
- Sam Burns
- Patrick Cantlay
- Ben Carr
- Cameron Champ
- Corey Conners
- Fred Couples
- Harrison Crowe
- Jason Day
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Harris English
- Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
- Tony Finau
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Ryan Fox
- Sergio Garcia
- Talor Gooch
- Brian Harman
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Russell Henley
- Kazuki Higa
- Tom Hoge
- Max Homa
- Billy Horschel
- Viktor Hovland
- Mackenzie Hughes
- Sungjae Im
- Dustin Johnson
- Zach Johnson
- Si Woo Kim
- Tom Kim
- Chris Kirk
- Kevin Kisner
- Kurt Kitayama
- Brooks Koepka
- Jason Kokrak
- Bernhard Langer
- K.H. Lee
- Min Woo Lee
- Shane Lowry
- Sandy Lyle
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Matthew McClean
- Rory McIlroy
- Adrian Meronk
- Phil Mickelson
- Keith Mitchell
- Larry Mize
- Francesco Molinari
- Taylor Moore
- Collin Morikawa
- Kevin Na
- Joaquin Niemann
- Alex Noren
- José María Olazábal
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Mito Pereira
- Thomas Pieters
- J.T. Poston
- Aldrich Potgieter
- Seamus Power
- Jon Rahm
- Patrick Reed
- Justin Rose
- Gordon Sargent
- Xander Schauffele
- Scottie Scheffler
- Charl Schwartzel
- Adam Scott
- Vijay Singh
- Cameron Smith
- Jordan Spieth
- Scott Stallings
- Sepp Straka
- Adam Svensson
- Sahith Theegala
- Justin Thomas
- Harold Varner III
- Bubba Watson
- Mike Weir
- Danny Willett
- Gary Woodland
- Tiger Woods
- Cameron Young
- Will Zalatoris