Tom Kim hires a veteran caddie for the Presidents Cup: Joe Skovron

NAPA, Calif. — Tom Kim will have an experienced hand on the bag at the 2022 Presidents Cup.

The 20-year-old South Korean, who made Trevor Immelman’s International Team, has hired Joe Skovron, who spent the previous 13 years caddying for Rickie Fowler.

Skovron, 41, was by Fowler’s side when he won his first PGA Tour title at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, host course for the Presidents Cup, which begins Thursday.

“For me, it’s great to be at a course that I’m so familiar with, that Rickie had a ton of success at and we went back to every year,” said Skovron, who spoke while waiting to catch a flight to Dallas to work with Kim this weekend before heading to Charlotte next week. “At least I’ll have familiarity with the golf course as we get a feel for each other.”

Kim has had a meteoric rise to No. 21 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He won the Wyndham Championship in August despite making a quadruple bogey on the first hole of the tournament. In doing so, he became the first winner on the PGA Tour born in the 2000s and the second-youngest winner since World War II, trailing only Jordan Spieth at the 2013 John Deere Classic.

It’s a smart move to pair the inexperienced Kim with a seasoned veteran with plenty of local knowledge. Kim’s agent, Ben Harrison of SportFive, sought out Skovron, a veteran of three Presidents Cups and someone who knows the ins-and-outs of international competition, and made the introduction. Skovron, who first took note of Kim at the Scottish Open this summer, said he’s agreed to work with Kim at the Shriners Children’s Open, Zozo Championship and the CJ Cup this fall.

“It’s an exciting opportunity with Tom and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

Asked about Skovron teaming up with Kim, Fowler said he hoped the two would click and form a lasting partnership.

“I’m stoked for him,” Fowler said. “We were in Memphis (at the FedEx St. Jude Championship) and Tom was making faces and playing with my little girl. He seems like a great kid. It was great to see him play the way he did at Wyndham. I’m excited for Joe. He’s getting a younger guy who is fresh.”

Fowler and Skovron parted ways last month after 13 years together. For Fowler’s fan club, it will take some getting used to seeing their guy with Ricky Romano, who started on the bag for Fowler this week at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California.

“With us, it was so much more than a player-caddie relationship,” Skovron said. “We have history from the time he was a little kid, growing up in the same town, my parents knowing him that long, me knowing his family that long, it was tough and I think we did the best we could with it and everything is fine with us. I look forward to our relationship going forward.”