Who is Kris Kim? Meet the English teenager aiming for more PGA Tour history

Kris Kim was six years old when his idol Rory McIlroy won his fourth major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Like the new grand slam winner McIlroy once was, he has long been earmarked as the “Next Big Thing” by many of those who have seen him play.

It is, of course, very ordinary for youngsters with eye-catching talent on the fairways to be told early they are destined for greatness. Very few live up to such harmful pressure.

Yet nothing about this teenager’s rise through the junior ranks before McIlroy’s fallow period in the majors ended amidst those emotional scenes at Augusta National has been ordinary at all.

Growing up in Surrey, Kim’s background is unique in that both his parents are former pros. His mother Ji Hyun Suh played on the LPGA Tour in the ‘90s and has been his coach since he was five.

His father Yong Ki Kim once featured on the Fiji Tour. Professional golf is in his blood. He has dominated every age group he has played in and in August 2023 won the prestigious Boys Amateur Championship.

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A month later, he went unbeaten in the Junior Ryder Cup at Marco Simone.  

It was no surprise, then, that Kim made history during his first experience in the big leagues. On his debut at the CJ Cup last year, the then 16-year-old became the youngest European to make a cut in a PGA Tour tournament.

He outscored Jordan Spieth and shone with the spotlight on him in featured groups TV coverage.

You could have forgiven him for forgetting he was sitting his school GCSE exams back in England just a few days later. Expectations on this young amateur, unsurprisingly, have since gone through the roof. 

Now 17, Kim is back at the CJ Cup Bryon Nelson this week and returns to the US circuit after being given the distinction of receiving the first new elite golf scholarship from the Wentworth Foundation. 

Under the new scholarship, Kim will have access to Wentworth’s three celebrated courses and the newly opened state-of-the-art Wentworth Golf Academy.

“I want to take my game to the next level and Wentworth is the place for me to achieve that,” he said. “I’m very excited and very grateful to everyone at the club for making it happen.”

To find out more about this exciting young talent, we caught up with Kim at the end of last season…

You’ve got your school GCSE results back. How did you get on? 

Some were good. I got a 7 in English, 5 in maths. Two 4s in science and we won’t talk about the rest! As long as I passed maths and English that was the main thing. I tried to study but you have to be consistent with it and it was tough. They were the week after I was on the PGA Tour! Kind of unlucky timing. I’m only at school a quarter of the time. Hopefully golf works out!  

When did you know you’d reach this level? 

County golf. I’d play age groups up. I’d play Under-14 when I was ten. I won the Surrey Under-16 when I was 12 or 13. You just keep winning big events for your age and get to amateur men’s golf and I’ve had a couple big chances. From the start I’ve pretty much had a tour coach with me. I guess it’s a bit of a head start but I don’t think there’s anything too special. I feel like when I get out here, I’m one of 156 players.  

So you started when you were five. How quickly did the handicap come down? 

I got a 30 handicap when I was eight. I got down to 12 when I was ten and five when I was 11. When I was 12 I shot my first under-par round and that shot me down quite a bit, especially with the old handicap system! I got to scratch at 12 or 13.  

How helpful has it been to have parents who have played professional golf? 

It just makes it more normal. My mum having done all this before. She’s a really good coach. She’s one of the only coaches I’ve had and it’s all I know. I just do things on my own a bit more. I feel like I self-motivate and I know when to work hard. They’re not (pushy parents). Probably the opposite. They just let me do whatever. If I really need her to look at my swing then she will but otherwise she won’t. I’ve got a proper mental coach as well but she’s obviously there to calm me down. I get angry sometimes but it actually helps me get back on track quickly. I use it as motivation. 

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You’re the first European amateur to sign a NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) contract with TaylorMade and Under Armour. Does that add any pressure? 

It’s just a cool thing. The guys are so nice to me. They don’t put any pressure on me, and they just want to help me perform the best. It’s ideal to be honest!  

Golf is all you’ve ever known. Can it sometimes be overwhelming? 

It’s good when you take time off. It’s why I’m doing sixth form (higher education). I’m doing Sport and Business. It will be nice to do normal stuff and then when I’m out here I get to love it and be happy I’m out here. I’m going to play DP World Tour Q School the next couple years and see how that goes. If I can get on Tour early with a full card, it’s hard to say no. 

College golf in America seems to be the preferred route right now… 

So many guys who do well in college – and they’ve done well on the PGA Tour – but most struggle for the first two years. Me and my mum, we said if you can get the experience early, you may as well battle it out. It’s a whole other thing doing it week-to-week and the stamina you’ve got to have on the PGA Tour. Then the rankings you need to stay afloat. It’s exciting stuff but it’s scary as well.  

So what’s the big dream? 

To be world No.1 in the rankings. Winning the Masters, Open, US Open, PGA, any major would be unreal. I’ve not played Augusta yet. I wish! 

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.