Kim wins Players

Randy Lefko

Posted 5/18/17

SAWGRASS - In a turnabout of luck and precision, South Korean golfer Si Woo Kim, just 21 years old, dominated the final round of the Players Championships amidst hot, humid weather with wild winds to …

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Kim wins Players

England’s Paul Casey was in contention with rounds of 71, 69 and 71 in the fourth day, but a 77 (+5) in the third round proved enough to push Casey to 22nd overall.

Staff photos by Randy Lefko

Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Augusta Master’s champion a month ago, fell to 30th overall dropping 23 spots in round four after a five under par 67 in round three and a six over par round four.

England’s Ian Poulter stayed close to the top of the leaderboard throughout the four days of golf with a second round 67 (-5) and two rounds of 71s on the weekend, but could not close on leader Si Woo Kim to finish second with Ireland’s Louis Oosthuizen at 281 (-7) for the tournament.

South Korean Si Woo Kim, just 21 years old, eyeballed a host of world golf leaders and a handful of former Players Championship winners to emerge with a 10-under par title Sunday afternoon in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Staff photos by Randy Lefko

Jason Day, of Australia, had a disastrous eight over par fourth round to drop to 60th place with a seven over par performance. Day dropped 40 spots on the leaderboard on the final round.

Posted Wednesday, May 17, 2017 12:00 pm

Randy Lefko

Kim, with a three-under par 69 in the final 18 holes, held off by three strokes late pushes from Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen to cash in on the $1.89 million first place prize. American Adam Scott was the previous youngest winner at 23 years old in 2004.

Kim finished at 10-under par for the four rounds with Poulter and Oosthuizen both finishing at seven under.

Kim’s win was his first major tournament victory with two cuts in his previous two major tournaments.

In 2017, Kim had seven missed cuts, four withdrawals, four rounds over 80 and just two top 25 finishes.

Highlights for the tournament included a hole-in-one on the infamous 17th hole for former Players champion Sergio Garcia, who came in as the 2017 Augusta Master’s champion, but fell drastically 23 places to 30th at one over par with a three over par final round.

Last year’s champion, Jason Day dropped 40 spots on day four with a horrific eight over par fourth round to finish seven over par in 60th place.