Starting on Thursday, Surrey-based 16-year-old Kris Kim, who starred in Europe’s victory at last year’s junior Ryder Cup, will compete in Texas against some of the best players in the world.
The field at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch includes former number ones Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Jason Day.
Kim, last year’s winner of the Boys’ Amateur title as well as the European Individual Championship and McGregor Trophy, is regarded as the outstanding teenage prospect in English men’s golf.
He has already signed a string of sponsorship deals under relaxed rules on contracts for amateur players. His backing from the CJ Group has resulted in a sponsor’s invitation to play this week.
The teenager is the son of South Korean former LPGA player Ji-Hyun Suh. “I’ll definitely ask my mum for advice,” Kim said. “It is going to be a very different environment and you don’t know how you will respond to it.
Kim picked up the game as a junior at Cuddington Golf Club in Surrey, where he would be seen practising relentlessly after school and during holidays.
Kim emerged under the captaincy of DP World Tour star Stephen Gallacher at the junior Ryder Cup last September. He won three and a half points out of four; beating 15-year-old Miles Russell 5&4 in the singles at Marco Simone near Rome.
Last week, Russell created his own headlines in the United States by making the cut in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Suncoast Classic in Florida.
Leading figures at England Golf regard Kim and Woad as the country’s two leading prospects. Woad, 20, won the recent Augusta National Women’s Amateur by birdieing the last two holes at the home of the Masters.
That victory brought an invitation to play the Chevron Championship earlier this month at Carlton Woods in Texas. Woad was inside the top 10 at the halfway stage while a string of superstars, including Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Celine Boutier of France, missed the cut.
Woad finished in a share of 23rd place before returning to Florida State University where she is now juggling her studies with elite amateur and college tournaments.
Kim, meanwhile, is anticipating a PGA Tour debut while studying for his GCSEs.
