Tom Kim Returns To Home Away From Home At LINK Hong Kong Open

Rising South Korean star Tom Kim’s aim is to simply “go out there and win” when one of the hottest young golf talents on the planet joins a stellar field at the LINK Hong Kong Open.

The LINK Hong Kong Open, labelled ‘Asia’s Major’ by golf legend Gary Player, will mark its 63rd edition from 21-24 November at The Hong Kong Golf Club, joining only the Masters at Augusta as golf championships to be held at the same venue for over six decadesAt just 22, the Seoul-born Kim has already claimed two Asian Tour events, along with three on the PGA Tour – becoming the youngest player since Tiger Woods to achieve that feat.

There has also been a T2 at The Open Championship and a T8 at the US Open last year, while this past weekend Kim came so very close to a breakthrough victory on the DP World Tour when he finished second via playoff in the Genesis Championship in Incheon, South Korea.

So Kim will arrive in Hong Kong at the very top of his game – and with his mind fully focused on turning it on for fans in the city that his family called home when he was a toddler.

“When I step up to a tournament, my mindset doesn’t change,” explained Kim, the world’s 25th-ranked player. 

“I'm going to prep the best I can for that week and I'm going to try to go out there and win. I'm super excited to go back to Hong Kong, because I'll have family there, I’ll have my friends there. So it's going to be great.”

It’s been 26 years since a Korean lifted the LINK Hong Kong Open trophy – when Kang Wook-soon won the tournament by two strokes from England’s Ed Fryatt.

“That actually motivates me a lot more,” said Kim, the Asian Tour’s 2020-21-22 Order of Merit winner who last played the LINK Hong Kong Open as a raw 17-year-old in 2020, finishing T18.

“As a 17-year-old, I kind of got hot-headed and finished 18th but I just remember the course being in really, really, really good shape. It's such a ball-striking golf course, it actually suits me really, really well. There's some par-threes where distance control is so crucial and you have to be on the right spots on certain holes because it' s such an old-style golf course. 

"You have to hit a lot of fairways as it's a very tree-lined golf course. So, I just remember ball-striking is always going to win out over there. It' s going to help you win.”

Kim will join a star-stacked line up for the US$2 million tournament out at Fanling - for the second time part of the Asia Tour’s International Series - as the city’s longest-running professional sporting event helps the historic Hong Kong Golf Club celebrate its 135th anniversaryThe legendary Englishman Justin Rose - a winner here in 2015, to go with his Olympic gold (2016) and his US Open (2013) - will be making his return. New Zealand’s reigning champion Ben Campbell returns after carving his name into local folklore with his high-drama, one-stroke victory over Australia’s Cameron Smith and Phachara Khongwatmai from Thailand last year.

Hong Kong’s history-maker Taichi Kho will meanwhile again be looking to thrill local fans as he returns to the scene of his famous breakthrough victory at the World City Championship last March - the first win on the Asian Tour by a local player.

Kim’s journey in golf is already inspiring the next generation of players across Asia. Born in Seoul, he took his game to the Philippine Golf Tour, before emerging via the Asian Development Tour, taking the Asian Tour by storm in 2019 – at age 17 – when he won the Panasonic Open India.

“It' s funny because I think a lot of people think when I got to the PGA Tour I came out of nowhere and I was an overnight success but it really wasn’t all that,” said Kim. “It was a five-year process to get there. If I hadn’t gone through the Asian Development Tour I don’t think I would be the player I am today. I was able to test the waters before I got to the main Tours and once I got to the main tour I was so prepared to go out and play and I was excited instead of feeling pressure.”

Ever since, Kim’s star has continued to rise, helped along by a show-stealing performance in the hit Netflix series Full Swing, one that saw the young Korean share such gems as his life-long obsession with the cartoon and children’s book favourite Thomas the Tank Engine (hence his chosen English name of “Tom”).

“[Full Swing] was a really good opportunity to share who I am,” said Kim. “My biggest thing is because I' m from Asia, I know what it' s like to dream and I know how far away things can feel. I want the people to know it’s actually not that far away. What I want to tell them is that if I can do it, literally anyone can do it.”

For the second straight year, the LINK Hong Kong Open is part of The International Series, 10 events over the course of the season which offer elevated prize funds and a pathway to the LIV Golf League.  In 2023, the Hong Kong Open was named The International Series Tournament of the Year and a Players’ Choice winner for Course of the Year. The leading points-scorer in The International Series Rankings receives exemption into the following season’s LIV Golf League. Held throughout the year across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, The International Series contributes US$23.5 million to the Asian Tour’s 2024 total prize fund this season.

Admission to the opening rounds on Thursday and Friday, 21-22 November, is free for the public.  Daily prices for Saturday and Sunday 23 and 24 November are $200 per day or $300 for a weekend pass. Tickets on sale now at KLOOK.

For more information please visit: www.thehongkongopen.com.