Will Tom Kim resume play on 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship Day 2? Golfer’s injury update explored
After completing his first round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Thursday, August 11, Tom Kim said that he was still struggling with the ankle and that it would take a few more weeks to heal.
Kim, who was playing his first round since suffering from a Grade 1 ankle tear at the Open Championship last month, fired a 6-under 64 to finish the first day just one stroke short of the lead.
Speaking at the post-round interview on Thursday, Kim gave an update about his ankle's condition. He said that he had difficulty playing at the TPC Southwind as it was pretty wet, which was causing stress on his ankle. He termed it one of the wettest rounds he had played in a long time.
He said:
"Obviously that doesn't help because you have to use a lot of your muscles around your legs to be able to push through, and it's just kind of not what I need, to be honest. I would like to be able to walk on kind of flat areas and dry, just take the stress off my ankle."
He added:
"I'm going to need to be able to watch it for the next few days, making sure I don't do anything bad because it's going to take a few weeks to fully heal. Just got to make sure I watch it."
The 21-year-old South Korean was the reigning champion at the Wyndham Champion last week but the injury barred him from defending his title. He said he was disappointed to sit out, but his doctors had advised him to rest his ankle.
He said:
"It was really hard just to be able to sit at home and kind of just watch on TV. Would have loved to be able to compete. But I had to make sure I wasn't going to do anything bad to my ankle, make it worse, or anything. There was a lot of icing, a lot of rehab."
When will Tom Kim resume playing at the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship?
The two-time winner on the PGA Tour fired a 64 on the first day of the FedEx St. Jude Championship to finish second after 18 holes. He is just a stroke behind first-round leader Jordan Spieth.
This was Kim's first start since his runner-up finish at the Open Championship. The 21-year-old South Korean entered the Playoffs after finishing the regular season 14th in the FedEx Cup Standings. He made seven top-10 finishes in 23 starts this season, including a win at the Shriners Children's Open last October.
Tom Kim is paired with Patrick Cantlay and Sepp Straka for the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The trio will tee off from the first hole on Friday, August 11, at 12:27 pm ET.
While Cantlay carded a 2-under 68 at TPC Southwind to end the first day at T34, Straka shot a 2-over 72 to finish the first round at T59.