Si Woo Kim is having a moment. Can the Internationals follow his lead?

Tom Kim couldn’t bear to watch, crouched along the edge of Royal Montreal’s 16th green.

Some 10 yards to his left, down at the bottom of a steep bank, his partner, Si Woo Kim, was left to clean up Tom Kim’s mess.

“I put us in the worst spot possible, and I thought, 'I’m going to lose us this match,'” Tom Kim said.

What happened next spurred a legend of its own, something that’s become a feature, not a bug, for its central character.

Si Woo Kim, needing a miracle just to maintain their 1-down deficit to Americans Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele on Saturday at the 2024 Presidents Cup, opened his stance, pointed his clubface to the heavens and lashed. Tom Kim’s eyes darted up on contact. The sound of the strike and the ball's trajectory pulled him from contemplative despair. The flop shot landed softly and trundled into the hole.

What do you do now? There’s no plan for a shot like that, which pulled the Internationals even after 16 holes of Saturday Foursomes and instantaneously sparked life into a team that continued to hang around the much more talented U.S. side.

All that’s left is instinct; Si Woo Kim’s led him to Steph Curry, his favorite NBA player. Before Tom Kim could reach Si Woo Kim on the green, the latter was running around maniacally, his hands pressed together and held up against the side of his tilted head. Tom Kim didn’t know what Si Woo Kim was doing. It was Curry’s trademarked “Night, Night” celebration.

The irony was that the match was far from over. Kim certainly hadn't put the Americans to sleep; they eventually won the match on the 18th, but whether he intended to or not, Kim told the world that while he and the Internationals may lose, they wouldn’t go down quietly.

Kim enters this Presidents Cup in a different role, no longer a bit piece in his fourth Presidents Cup. He’s the star – the highest-ranked player for the woebegone squad in search of its first victory this century. Statistically, he's their best golfer and part of the Internationals’ most dynamic duo alongside Tom Kim. He’s also an emotional engine. His swagger is a catalyst. His humor is infectious. His intensity is admirable. His glow-up as a player and personality has made him the Internationals’ most tantalizing piece.

Kim is also a throughline of the step the Internationals hope to take. His persona off the course has blossomed as he’s become more comfortable speaking English. His game has, too, been buoyed by the growing belief that he belongs. Can the Internationals match that maturation at Medinah?

Kim is, undoubtedly, having a moment. Here’s how we arrived there.

Kim’s road to the PGA Tour started with a misunderstanding. It was December 2012; he was 17 and one round away from earning a Tour card at PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, which he expected to use in a few weeks when the new season began.

That was until a reporter accidentally broke the news to Kim that he wouldn’t be able to play before he turned 18 in late June, per Tour rules. Kim had no idea, and the rollicking start to his pro career was kneecapped before it even had a chance. Kim missed the cut in all six events he played in 2013 and dropped down to the Korn Ferry Tour.

There, he battled a language barrier that isolated him as a young teenager in a foreign environment and a nagging feeling that everything was coming at him too fast. Kim hadn't planned to come to America soon. Everything moved up because Q-School was set to stop offering a direct pathway to the PGA Tour the next year. So Kim jumped at the last opportunity and didn’t expect himself to make it.

Now, a year into his career in the U.S., he was questioning whether he should go back to South Korea.

Kim persisted, and the talent that first earned his Tour card eventually was enough to earn it back. He won a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2015, securing Tour status for 2016. Then he won the Wyndham Championship as a rookie, solidifying his future for years to come.

Months later, Kim won the biggest event of his career to date – the 2017 Players Championship – just a few weeks shy of his 22nd birthday. He was the youngest to win the Tour’s top event. It also earned him a place on the 2017 Presidents Cup Team.

Kim turned up to his first team event in middling form. Truth be told, it was a poor year other than his triumph at The Players Championship. This event, though, felt different. Match play unlocked a fire inside him.

Kim was indescribably nervous when he reached the first tee at Liberty National Golf Club. Three former U.S. Presidents were on hand. The top American duo – Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed – were waiting for them. It’s as nervous as he had ever been.

Yet murmuring in the background, Kim could hear a weird chant. Even in enemy territory, a group of fans was shouting something in support. At first, Kim couldn’t quite make it out. By the end of the week, it had become folklore in the niche golf community. As had Kim.

“Si Woo, Si Woo, shaking that ***, shaking that ***, shaking that ***!”

Scottie Scheffler can’t remember when he first met Kim, but he can easily recall the first time Kim came to him with a favor.

Early last year, Kim approached Scheffler looking for help joining “Royal Oak” Golf Club, Scheffler’s home course in Dallas. Scheffler said yes, of course. But it would probably be wise for Kim to know the proper course name first.

“It's Royal Oaks, by the way,” Scheffler said, laughing.

Kim’s broken English has become part of his charm, particularly in recent years as he’s become more comfortable speaking it in media appearances and in conversation with other players.

“He’s funny in Korean, but he’s even funnier when he’s speaking English,” Tom Kim said.

That has led to frequent funny misunderstandings. In Detroit during the Rocket Classic in July, Michael Kim invited Si Woo Kim to dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant. The only problem: A restaurant with the same name existed on the Canadian side of the border, and Si Woo Kim started driving there. He didn’t realize his mistake until he was past customs and without his passport.

“I had to pay to go through and thought, ‘Why is it so expensive?’” he said. “And as soon as I get through the tunnel, ‘Oh, this is Canada.’”

A conversation with border agents led to the search of his car, though “somehow I got out of it,” Kim said. "[The lead officer] asked me if I was going to win this Sunday, and I said ‘Only if you let me through.’”

In a press conference at the Tour Championship, Kim said he’s had the putting “yips” for 10 years. Presidents Cup assistant captain Trevor Immelman laughed when told that anecdote.

“That's one of the reasons that he makes us chuckle is because that might be the only word that he has at his disposal to try and get his point across,” Immelman said. “Maybe somebody with a deeper understanding of the English language would have come up with another word to not show any vulnerability. But he just goes ahead and lets everybody know, like, you know, how he was feeling, and what he's been thinking.”

Any worry that Kim is the butt of the joke quickly diminishes when you realize Kim is in on the joke. He’s authentically himself. The language barrier strips any emotional facade that could be crafted. The Si Woo Kim you see and hear is exactly who you are getting because Kim knows no other way.

“I think everyone's seen some of that character come out in, whether it's social media or other clips online this year,” said Adam Scott, Kim’s International teammate. “He's a lot of fun.”

That has earned Kim the reputation as a locker room favorite. There’s a good chance your favorite golfer’s favorite golfer is Kim. That’s an asset to an International Team still trying to effectively blend various cultures from across the world into a cohesive team for one week every two years. Kim’s personality is a unifier.

“He's a glue guy with players and caddies and wives and partners,” Immelman said. “He brings everybody together in a certain sense.”

That authenticity is undeniable in his on-course behavior, which shows a different side of Kim that’s made him just as likable to fans. He’s prone to an epic blow-up.

Kim snapped his putter during the second round of the 2021 Masters in frustration, forcing him to putt with a 3-wood for the last four holes. That’s the incident you can likely recall, but there have been others. After a poor shot at the 3M Open last year, with Kim well outside the cutline, he snapped a club in anger. His caddie jokingly asked if he wanted another club. Kim said yes and snapped that one, too.

Kim chucked his 5-wood into a bush on the fifth hole at Muirfield Village during the 2018 the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday after he came up short with his approach into the lengthy par 5. He left it there, disgusted by the shot. It wasn’t until his drive ended up in the same spot the next day that he realized he wanted the club back. He first hit his approach with a 3-wood, then began searching for his discarded 5-wood in the bushes. He found it, then put it in play on his next shot, using the club to hit a bump-and-run from just off the putting surface that dropped in for eagle.

“You don't get to the PGA Tour without having that other side to you,” Immelman said.

The Presidents Cup was over. Well, not officially, but everyone knew it.

The U.S. nearly clinched the Cup in 2017 on Saturday, taking a 14.5-3.5 lead in Sunday Singles, just half a point short of an assured victory.

Kim had earned one of those 3.5 points with a Saturday Four-ball victory and was sent out in the fourth match in Singles. It’s a notable honor to be that high in the pecking order in your first Presidents Cup. Yet, given the circumstances, it also meant you may be the man who officially loses the Cup to the Americans.

Kim was intent on avoiding that fate.

Two down through 10 holes, Kim was teetering on that possibility when Daniel Berger chipped in for birdie at the 11th, winning the hole and pushing closer to the inevitable outcome. Yet Kim calmly stood over a mid-range, downhill birdie putt. He dripped it in, stared out at the crowd, and put a finger to his mouth, shushing them.

There’s a defiance to Kim. It suits him in these environments, but he keeps it everywhere.

If you know one thing about him, it’s likely this: Kim will hit driver from anywhere. Truly. Anywhere.

Protecting 3-up with five holes to play in Saturday Four-ball at the Presidents Cup? No question. From the fairway bunker at TPC Louisiana’s 18th? Why not.

Tom Kim has watched both happen. At the 2024 Presidents Cup in Montreal, the duo held a firm edge over Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark during Saturday’s Four-ball session when they arrived at the 14th. With the tee moved up, the hole was 334 yards and pseudo-drivable for the longest hitters. Tom Kim immediately grabbed iron and figured Si Woo Kim would do the same.

“You'd think two balls in the fairway, give yourself a chance with a wedge,” Kim explains. “And he steps up there and pulls driver out in front of me. And I'm looking at this, like, this guy has no chance.”

Si Woo Kim promptly hit it into the water left while Tom Kim made birdie laying back. They closed the Americans out on the next hole.

A similar story played out when the duo teamed together at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Si Woo Kim was in a fairway bunker after his drive on the closing par 5. Tom Kim wasn’t paying much attention, focused primarily on his own shot from the fairway. That is until he heard the thwack of a driver off to his left. Kim had let it rip from the bunker, over a considerable lip. This time it worked, the ball running out into the fairway. When Tom looked over to Si Woo, he was already staring at him, laughing.

“That's him,” Tom Kim said.

During off weeks, Si Woo Kim regularly plays at Royal Oaks with Scheffler. The 15th hole there is a lengthy par 5 with water guarding the green short and left. Without fail, Kim will try to reach the green in two with driver.

“That hole is typically a win for me,” Scheffler said.

Kim knows no other way. That aggression is fundamental to his golf, a defiant act of self-expression that runs counter to the conservative strategy that has become the meta in professional golf.

Yet there are moments of growth, which also tie back to Scheffler. Their regular money games back home have been illuminating to Kim. He’s tried to be a sponge, soaking up the knowledge of the world’s best player. He’s learned the importance of shaping shots in both directions, particularly with his irons. Kim has become a better player because of it. Since playing with Scheffler regularly, Kim has notched his first two top-10 finishes at majors: a T8 at the 2025 PGA Championship, then a T6 at the Open Championship earlier this year. His belief has skyrocketed, as has his consistency. He missed only one cut this year and entered the Tour Championship at No. 5 in the FedExCup standings, by far his best performance.

Yet Kim still hasn’t beaten Scheffler at Royal Oaks. Never? Never. Kim has tied him twice.

“I think I'm paying for his second son, all the diapers,” Kim said.

Which is also illuminating for the challenge ahead. The Americans’ top player is Scheffler, the world No. 1 and four-time major winner, on the precipice of winning a fifth straight Player of the Year. The Internationals’ No. 1 player is the man who was quite literally never beaten by Scheffler at their home course.

Simply look at the history of this event: The Americans and Internationals have played 15 Presidents Cups. The Internationals have won one. Changing that takes more than one person.

But it starts with belief, something Kim now has in spades. He believes every driver off the deck will work and that the next win is on the horizon. Kim believed he was about to upset the Americans after hitting the “Night, Night” in Montreal and had no problem shushing the Long Island crowd even when his team was getting routed.

“There's an underlying belief there that he can,” Immelman said. “That he can pull off whatever shot he sees.”