Si Woo Kim

Kim posted a career high in earnings this past season, and while that's partially a reflection of the higher purses this past year, it's mostly due to improved performance. Kim picked up his fourth career win at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which was one of his career-high five top-10s. At 28, Kim is entering the prime of his career and should continue to improve, but since he set the bar high this past year, he doesn't provide much value in a salary cap league. Kim plays a ton, so he's a great player to have in all other formats.

Kim might be the most erratic in-event golfer on the entire PGA Tour. The odd thing is, when looking at his career numbers, the end of season results generally look the same. He's had a low of just over $1 million in earnings for a season and a high of just over $3 million, but he's generally landed in the $2 million range. One promising note on this past season is that Kim tied a career high with 23 made cuts, so even though he's wildly inconsistent from round to round, he managed to be slightly better on his good rounds than bad on his poor rounds. Kim is a solid player with a bright future and his cap number is reasonable for this upcoming season which makes him an interesting salary cap selection.

Kim made a splash right out of the gate when he joined the PGA Tour in 2016. Prior to 2020-21, however, he witnessed a decrease in earnings every year since his rookie season. The trend was easy to read, but Kim somehow managed to turn it around in 2020-21 and post the best numbers of his career. How did he do it? Strokes-gained around the green. He's always been good in this category, but last year he ranked 4th overall. His two best seasons have coincided with top-10 finishes in SG: Around the Green. It's hard to imagine him replicating that performance this year however and as such, he's not a great salary cap option this season.

Si Woo Kim set the bar awfully high in his rookie season of 2016 as he posted over $3 million in earnings, but his production has gradually dropped in each of the past four seasons. Gradually dropped until this past season that is as the pandemic-shortened season saw his production cut in half vs. the previous season. With that said, Kim is a work horse and plays almost every change he gets. It shouldn't be hard for Kim to improve significantly on his 2019-20 earnings number as it's set just above $1 million.

After years of setting the bar too high, Kim's price for the upcoming season is actually within a reasonable range for salary cap purposes. That's not to say that he's a great pick for the upcoming season, but his number of just over $2 million is his lowest in four seasons on the PGA Tour. He has already posted numbers of $3 million+ two times in his short time on the PGA Tour, so a jump of 50% this season is certainly possible. It's a sizable investment at over $2 million, but Kim has been pretty reliable in his four years on the PGA Tour and his upside is pretty high.

Kim won just over $3 million in 2016 and it's been downhill ever since. Not like a ski hill, but more like a average driveway, with a slight decline. It's a very nice driveway however as though Kim's numbers have fallen in each of the past two seasons, he's managed to stay above the $2 million mark. He also won The PLAYERS Championship in 2017, which isn't too shabby. The issue with Kim has been consistency as he's shown a tendency to play well only a few times each season. As such, he's always going to be a high-risk player, especially in salary cap formats where the price tag is still over $2 million. On the positive side, he plays as much as anyone on the PGA Tour, so he's giving himself plenty of opportunities to find a hot streak.

Kim won THE Players Championship, which pretty much sums up his entire season. For a week in May, Kim was outstanding, but he didn't accomplish much before or after that victory. It's tough to gauge just how good he is or can be, because we haven't seen enough out of him yet. We know that he can play with the best, when he's at his best, but we know nothing about his determination to play well when things aren't going well. With so much uncertainty, it wouldn't be wise to spend this much money on him in salary cap leagues.

Kim was perhaps the biggest surprise of the 2015-16 season. He started the season well, like many rookies seem to do, but unlike most rookies, he got hot in the middle of summer. A crushing loss in a playoff at the Barbasol Championship didn't deter Kim at all as he picked-up his first PGA Tour win just a month later at the Wyndham Championship. The jury is still out on Kim, it's way too early to tell if he's for real or just a two-month aberration. As such, he's not a good salary cap option this season. In draft leagues he should go in the fourth or fifth round.

Kim, who also began his journey at pre-qualifying, finished in the Top 25 and ties (he tied for 20th, to be exact) at Q-School to earn his PGA TOUR card for 2013. The only problem here? He doesn’t turn 18 until June 28, and minors are not eligible for official PGA TOUR membership. This bad break of sorts is especially more penal in 2013, when the PGA TOUR has a truncated schedule that will limit playing opportunities for all. He can only get sponsor’s exemptions and attempt to Monday qualify into events until June 28 and once that day passes, he’ll be placed at the bottom of the Reshuffle List. He will really need to play well in the limited opportunities he’ll get to keep his PGA TOUR card for 2013-2014.