“A lot of laughter” – Masters debutant Tom Kim on his “dream” practice round with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

Tom Kim is making his Masters debut this week and certainly would not have expected to share the golf course with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Kim paired up with Woods and McIlroy at the practice session of The Masters on Monday. He had a lot of fun playing alongside them and enjoyed his time on the course.

In a press conference on Tuesday, April 4, Tom Kim spoke about his practice session and said:

“A lot of laughter. So it was really fun. I think my first memory of just watching golf was the Masters and Tiger winning it (2005), and for me to be able to share my first official practice round with him was a dream come true, really. And to not just play with Tiger but to have Fred Couples and Rory join us, it was a dream."

He added:

“The guys were pretty serious and they were getting work done. It was just nice and enjoyable. Days like yesterday definitely makes me feel like dreams really do come true, especially for the guys back in Asia. You know, I had a goal, and I worked towards it, and it feels like days like yesterday definitely, the hard work kind of pays off.”

The Masters is the first major tournament of the year. It will start on Thursday, April 6, and is back in its 72-hole format. Interestingly, the LIV Golf players will also be playing alongside the PGA Tour players.

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Tom Kim pairs up with Rory McIlroy at the 2023 Masters first round

Tom Kim has paired up with FedEx Champion Rory McIlroy to start his game at The Masters. He will start with the first round at 1:48 pm ET on Thursday, April 6. Kim will also be joined by Sam Burns in the opening round.

Here's a list of the 2023 Masters pairings:

• Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
• Sandy Lyle, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
• Fred Couples, Russell Henley, Alex Noren
• Adrian Meronk, Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen
• Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee, Harrison Crowe
• Sergio Garcia, Kazuki Higa, Keith Mitchell
• Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson, Sahith Theegala
• Mike Weir, Kevin Na
• Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Matthew McClean
• Shane Lowry, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters
• Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
• Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox
• Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Gordon Sargent
• Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
• Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose
• Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
• Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett
• Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau
• Bubba Watson, Seamus Power, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
• Abraham Ancer, Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
• Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
• Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama
• Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
• Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im
• Jose Maria Olazabal, Cameron Champ
• Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Moore, Aldrich Potgieter
• J.T. Poston, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau
• Bernhard Langer, Mito Pereira, Ben Carr
• Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka
• Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, K.H. Lee

Tom Kim turned professional in 2018 and has won 11 professional events in his career. He won two PGA Tours and two Asian Tours and played in three major tournaments with a best finish at the US Open in 2022.