Chan Kim was as relaxed as he\u2019s been in some time on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, where the 35-year-old Kim, on the heels of a frustrating and emotional close to his fall season, opened the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School with a leading 6-under 64 around the Dye\u2019s Valley Course.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no coincidence that a day earlier, Kim\u2019s newborn daughter, Jenna, went home for the first time.<\/p>\n
Chan Kim had just missed the cut at the World Wide Technology Championship in early November, his 12th trunk slam in 15 starts, when he received a call that his wife, Sally, about three weeks from Jenna\u2019s due date, had been rushed in for an emergency C-section. Kim hopped on a plane back home to Phoenix as soon as he could, but he still missed his firstborn\u2019s entrance into the world.<\/p>\n
Jenna was born at approximately 10 pounds, over two pounds of that extra fluid from what doctors diagnosed as hydrops, a \u201csevere, potentially fatal condition in unborn or newborn babies involving widespread fluid buildup in body tissues and organs.\u201d Kim shared that doctors initially gave Jenna a 30-percent chance of survival. She was immediately admitted to the NICU.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery emotional the first two weeks,\u201d Kim said. \u201cDoctors didn\u2019t know if she was going to survive, which in turn just put us under a lot of stress. \u2026 I was so focused on that that nothing else really mattered at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
With his daughter fighting for her life, Kim, well outside the top 100 in FedExCup points after keeping his card as a rookie the year prior, made the difficult decision to continue fighting for his job. He flew to Bermuda, got in the day before the tournament, and promptly started 8 over through his first 11 holes.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the year, Kim\u2019s mind had been clouded by all sorts of swing thoughts. But with his heart and mind mostly back home, Kim\u2019s approach of simply getting through his rounds as quickly as possible and immediately jumping on a FaceTime with his wife seemed to work. He battled back for a T-22 in Bermuda, then capped his fall with a T-41 at the RSM Classic with bookend 66s. He still finished No. 130 in points, but he\u2019d done enough to guarantee his exemption to final stage, where he\u2019d have one last chance to retain full status.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, you know what, I\u2019m just going to go out, hurry up and play some golf, get back in and call the wife, see how the baby\u2019s doing,\u201d Kim explained of his approach. \u201cYeah, that was about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golf hasn\u2019t been the main thing on Chan Kim\u2019s mind for about a month.<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old Kim and his wife, Sally, were expecting their first child, a girl, in late November when Kim headed to Cabo for the WWT Championship. He missed the cut there, his 12th in 15 starts, then that\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Nl0e7UKaJx<\/a><\/p>\n