Cherry Hills Village – In 2004, Birdie Kim could have been called Bogey Kim or Miss Cut Kim. However, few people outside women’s professional golf knew who she was, and even fewer knew she thought of herself as Confident Kim.
That’s why last year, Ju-Yun Kim changed her name to one that became appropriate Sunday at Cherry Hills Country Club. Tied for the lead at the U.S. Women’s Open on the final hole, Kim knocked her second shot into a greenside bunker. Her shot from the sand dropped into the cup – and into U.S. Open lore, giving her a win in the most prestigious tournament in women’s golf.
“Now LPGA has a lot of (people whose) last name is Kim,” said the 23-year-old Korean, who won $560,000 Sunday. “Everybody cannot remember their first name. Also, I want to make special with a name for golf. That’s why I make Birdie.”
Today she is the most popular Kim in South Korea, let alone among the seven Kims in the tournament. Holing out a sand save on the 18th for a birdie-3 gave her a two-shot win over U.S. amateurs Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang.
In her rookie year in 2004, Kim made only three of 20 cuts and earned a total of $9,897. That’s Annika Sorenstam’s valet budget. Kim lost her LPGA Tour card and had to return to qualifying school. Yet after Kim rejoined the tour, she met prospective caddie Miles Nixon at her base in Miami and said a remarkable thing.
“She told me she wanted to be one of the top three players in the world,” Nixon said after Kim broke down in tears after winning the trophy. “I saw her swing and said she could do it.”
Nixon had never caddied before but played four years at Ohio’s Urbana University and had a lot of respect for her coach, Bob Toski. Even when she struggled this year – she missed six of seven cuts at one point – Toski remained as optimistic as his pupil.
“He’s a wonderful teacher, and he’s always talking about how much potential this girl has,” Nixon said. “He’s always saying: ‘Miles, stick with her. She’s got huge potential. She’s a superstar.’ And I knew. It was just a matter of time.”
If Kim had no confidence, it would’ve showed Sunday. Standing one stroke back of the lead in a tie for fourth entering the day, she was teamed with 15-year-old sensation Michelle Wie, whose gallery was just slightly smaller than the 334,000 people who live in Kim’s home city of Iksan.
Wie, however, cracked. Kim played as if, she said, “it is like practice.” She even looks confident. The 5-foot-9 Kim seems more uneasy in interviews than on the course.
“My roommate, I told him last night, ‘I don’t think this girl’s nervous at all,”‘ Nixon said. “I told him: ‘I’m nervous. I’m up at 2 o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t hardly sleep.’
“I could tell she wasn’t nervous. When we got here this morning, she looked at me and said, ‘Are you nervous?’ I said, ‘No, are you?’ She said, ‘No.”‘
Kim is part of a South Korean golf boom. In 1992, her father’s friend owned a golf shop and introduced her to the game when she was 11. Six years later, South Korea’s Se Ri Pak won Rookie of the Year and Kim had her role model and future friend.
Kim was on the national team for three years and earned her LPGA card in 2004. Her rookie year just wasn’t quite as profitable as Pak’s. It didn’t stop her. Kim moved to Miami; rejoined Toski, who first coached her in 2000; and, on Sunday, was the best woman golfer on the planet.
“She always tells me that she knows everybody goes through rough times,” Nixon said. “Every player has a year or two of bad times. She said: ‘I had my year, too. I’m ready now.”‘
But who was ready for holing out a bunker shot to win the U.S. Open?
“Her imagination is unbelievable,” Nixon said. “She sees things I don’t see. She hit that shot, and once I saw the release I said: ‘Whoop! That might have a chance.’ Then it just dropped. Most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen.”
Until this: Birdie Kim is now called U.S. Open champion Kim.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
