Tom Kim Responds After Being Caught Damaging Green Ahead Of Brutal Meltdown In Memphis

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Tom Kim had a Sunday to forget during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. Not only did he crash and burn outside of the Top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings, he was also caught damaging a green at TPC Southwind in frustration.

The moment that has the young South Korean in hot water came on the 12th hole on Sunday after missing a short birdie putt. As soon as he realized he had missed the putt, Kim took a swipe at the putting surface with his putter, taking a large chunk out of the green in the process.

Not only did he take a piece of green out in an act of frustration, he didn't go back to fix the mark.

It was later reported that Kim's caddie, Paul Tesori, later fixed the indent, but after it was brought to his attention of how bad the incident was, Kim took to Instagram to release a statement.

"It’s been brought to my attention about my frustration shown yesterday on the 12th green, I will never lie to my peers and fans because I have too much respect and gratitude towards them, I wasn’t aware that I had made that big of a damage on the green cause if I did I would’ve never just left without repairing it, but I was clearly wrong and will take full responsibility of my actions and will be better going forward."

"Thank you and I apologize again and thank you for your support throughout a tough year," Kim wrote.

If you believe in the golf gods and karma, you probably would have predicted what Kim was in store for during the remainder of his final round in Memphis.

Kim was among the ‘bubble boys’ heading into the final round on Sunday, and all looked to be okay as he sat 46th in the FedEx Cup standings standing on the 16th tee. With the Top 50 players in the standings getting into this week's BMW Championship and punching their ticket into each signature event next season, the final two holes were a legitimate make-or-break moment for the 22-year-old.

Unfortunately for him, he broke.

Kim carded back-to-back double bogeys on his final two holes, and after getting no help from other players closing out their rounds, he finished 51st in the standings.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.