Tom Kim ‘Apologizes’ After Breaking Locker Door In Frustration By Saying It’s Cool Because He Didn’t Mean To

Tom Kim lost to fellow South Korean Byeong-Hun An in a playoff at the Genesis Championship on Sunday and then reportedly took out some of his frustration on a locker room door. After the story of him damaging the locker made the rounds, the 22-year-old decided to address the situation head-on, but in a very peculiar way.

Kim lipped out a birdie putt for the outright win on the 72nd hole before making a costly bogey on the first playoff hole to lose to An. Then, according to Yonhap News Agency, Kim broke his locker door inside Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in frustration causing the door to fall off of its hinges.

Yonhap’s report also noted that the KPGA Tour was considering disciplinary action against Tom Kim.

On Monday morning, Kim shared a statement about the situation on his Instagram page adding his side of the story. He claimed that there was a lot of “false reporting” about the incident before going the odd route of admitting that the locker door was damaged while insinuating it wasn’t too serious given that he didn’t actually have any intent of causing damage.

“There has been a lot of speculation about the incident after my round yesterday at the genesis championship in my home country,” Kim’s statement read. “There has been a lot of false reporting and I wanted to clean things up. It’s important that the information comes directly from me, openly and honestly. After the loss I was frustrated, yes absolutely…but I can assure you with absolute truth that I had no intent of damaging any part of the locker not a single bit.”

“I addressed it with the DP World Tour and the KPGA right after the incident saying that the door came off. We had to fully pull it out due to safety reasons, I also let them know that I was willing to pay all expense for the damage.”

“There has also been speculation about disciplinary action. I spoke to the Tour immediately after the incident. After my apology and offer to pay damages the matter was considered closed.”

Talk about a spin zone. ‘I damaged the door, but didn’t mean to, but here is a few hundred bucks to get it fixed.’

Kim’s ‘apology’ is the same type of story you hear from someone who has the bright idea to punch a wall in frustration. That person never means to put a hole in the wall with their first, but it still happens.

This locker room situation is the latest chapter in what has been an interesting fall for Kim. He made a number of headlines during the Presidents Cup, including a major one when he accused American players of cursing at him and his International teammate but decided not to share names.