Golfer Turned Babysitter: The Story Of Tom Kim's Christmas With The Spieths

It's the PGA Tour bromance few saw coming but that makes total sense. After all, Tom Kim and Jordan Spieth are two of the most likeable players in world golf and share a similarly devastating emergence onto the sport's biggest stage.

The pair rank among the youngest ever to win on the PGA Tour - Spieth was 19 and Kim was 20, although he was less than two months older - and they both live in Dallas, Texas, where they are coached by Cameron McCormick. 

A hub of Asian players make the city feel like a home from home for Kim, but with no family around, the Korean was due to spend Christmas alone. That is, until the Spieths intervened. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Kim gave a glimpse into his growing friendship with the three-time Major winner.

"Yeah, I mean, the more time I spent with Jordan just we kind of came closer friends. I think we shared a plane back from Hero back to Dallas, so I took the Jordan air.

"But yeah, he was really nice enough to invite me for Christmas. My family wasn't home and I was kind of by myself. So I got to spend some time with the Spieths and kind of babysit Sammy, which was really cool. He's the most wonderful little boy I think I've ever met. He's just absolutely amazing. So definitely I've seen a lot of kids, but he definitely makes it a lot easier."

"He's like the Sammy-whisperer," Spieth joked. "I think they’re so close in age that it actually makes it nice."

And as well as ending 2022 in each other's company, Spieth and Kim began their 2023 PGA Tour campaigns together for the first round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, which appeared to do neither any harm as Kim fired an eight-under 65 while his Christmas host carded a six-under 67.

A Sunday showdown would have made for intriguing viewing, but in these troubling times for golf, we'll settle for a wholesome story to kick off 2023.