“Major” props to Michigan’s Lion Kim for hanging with the big boys in the opening round on Thursday. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of his epic blue, maize and white custom Footjoys with “LION” on the side—but I’m sure a pic will surface. Kim shot a respectable 76 (+4) on the day and is tied for 87th heading into Friday. He’s got a little work to do to make the cut, but it’s certainly within reach if he can shoot near or just under par. Consider how fine that line is. Here’s how Kim stood up statistically against the leaders and Tiger: Player Driving Accuracy (Fairways) Greens in Regulation Lion Kim (+4) 10 of 14 12 of 18 Rory McIlroy (-7) 10 of 14 14 of 18 Alvaro Quiros (-7) 7 of 14 10 of 14 Tiger Woods (-1) 9 of 14 14 of 18 Kim’s average driving distance was 272 yards, just over eight yards behind Tiger (280.5). Other sights and sounds from Thursday: Kim teed off at 12:31 and hit a beautiful drive, up the middle just short of the bunker up the hill. (Former champion JM Olazabal and PGA vet Davis Love III put it to the right & in trouble. Lion made birdie—what a start. On #9, Lion hit a low stinger from around 190…
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What’s in My Bag? Michigan’s Lion Kim
Golf Digest has a cool regular feature called ‘What’s in My Bag’ where they run down what a pro carries in his golf bag each week. During a recent visit in March in the basement of the U-M Clubhouse, Lion Kim was kind enough to spend a few minutes running through the equipment he’s bringing to Augusta in April
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Gearing Up for Augusta: Lion Kim Interview
From 2010-11 Michigan Men’s Golf yearbook – U-M Media Relations I recently caught up with Michigan senior golfer Lion Kim and he sounds like he’s ready. In about eight weeks Kim will tee it up at Augusta National against the world’s best golfers. Back in July the 21 year-old took down the field at the U.S. Amateur Public Links and took home both a magnificent silver trophy and perhaps more significantly, a slot in the 2011 Masters field. What are his goals for tournament? Did an owl bring him his official invitation to The Masters (like I hoped)? Will he represent Michigan in any way during the week? These answers and much more below. _______________________________________________________________________ I understand you’ve had the chance to play Augusta National for practice? Kim: Yes I have. I’ve made a couple trips down there to get some practice rounds in. Are you invited to practice if you are in the field? How did you arrange that? Kim: Once you earn the invite for the following year’s Masters you can just call in. When I called and introduced myself they quickly knew who I was and I asked if I could do a couple practice rounds. The rule is you can do as many practice rounds as possible, you just have to call a week before and…
