Michael Kim on how Tour pros face high-stress playing situations: "Tough thing to deal with"

US golfer Michael Kim is very active on social media and often shares golf advice and inside glimpses with fans and amateur players. The PGA Tour star also answers fan questions in his comment section.

Kim recently took to X to speak about how professional golfers deal with high-stress situations. He also reflected on his interactions with amateur golfers.

"As I’ve talked to many Ams, they always seem to think we have all the confidence in the world when we’re over a golf ball. There are times when we are confident, but more times than not pros are dealing with lots of nerves and anxiety."

The 31-year-old then detailed how brains function in a high-pressure situation and how the "best golfers" deal with it.

"In high stress situations, our brains’ default programming is to look for worst case scenarios to help us survive. It can be a tough thing to deal with when trying to play ur best golf. The best golfers have a mental process that helps us try and play our best golf,"

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"I’ve had some scars there from previous years," - Michael Kim on sticking to his mental process at the RSM Classic

Michael Kim at the 2024 RSM Classic (Source: Getty)

Michael Kim was last seen at the RSM Classic in November this year. He placed T11 in the tournament. After he shared his post talking about mental processes, a fan had a question for him.

"Besides winning the JDC, can you give an example of a moment or shot where you were really proud of sticking to/going through your mental process?"

Michael Kim had won the 2018 John Deere Classic with a score of 27-under. He had a one-stroke margin victory ahead of some notable golfers such as Sam Ryder, Joel Dahmen, Francesco Molinari, and Bronson Burgoon who placed T2.

However, while responding to the fan, Kim had a surprising revelation that he was in stress the whole week at the TPC Deere Run and he didn't have a mental process back then. He then spoke about the moments he was proud of for sticking to his mental plan and why.

"Funny enough, I was playing thru a ton of anxiety the entire week at JDC. I didn’t have that good of a mental process back then. I think my final rounds at Bermuda and RSM were really good from a mental aspect. RSM especially because I’ve had some scars there from previous years,"

The US golfer had placed T12 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship this year.