2025 PGA Championship: Si Woo Kim caught smoking cigarette on course at Quail Hollow

It’s not every day you see a golfer ripping a cigarette on the course, especially not at the PGA Championship. The game includes a ton of walking and it can be rough on players if they’re struggling more than normal to get their breath.

Still, that’s exactly what 29-year-old Korean golfer Si Woo Kim did on the course at the PGA Championship on Thursday in the opening round. The PGA Championship is being held this year at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC.

Kim was off to just an OK start in the tournament, sitting at +1 over through the first 12 holes on the course. The leader at the moment is Ryan Fox at -5.

You can see Si Woo Kim’s brief smoke break below. He clearly puts out the cigarette while approaching the front of the tee box.

Si Woo Kim’s ripping a cig at the PGA Championship

Man of the People

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While Si Woo Kim will draw some headlines for smoking on the course, he’s not the only golfer to ever have done it. And it’ll hardly move the needle overall.

In fact, there have been a number of other things on the course this season that have caught our attention. The early days at the last major of the season, The Masters, also produced some fun drama.

Notable incidents on the golf course

While the PGA Championship is still in the early stages, the first major of the year was completed earlier this season at Augusta. And a handful of incidents were worth writing about.

First, Max Homa was on target during the first round of The Masters on Thursday. That is, if his desired target was an Augusta National Golf Club course marshal.

Of course, it was not, but that’s where his approach shot on the par-5 eighth landed. Homa hit his tee shot left of the fairway, forcing him to punch out from behind a tree in the rough. The problem, however, was a course marshal was standing in the middle of the fairway holding a flag. Homa’s ball bounced once off the fairway and into the back of the marshal before settling just to the right.

“Come on, dude,” a frustrated Homa yelled out. Understandable.

Later in the action at The Masters — nearly a month before the PGA Championship began — Jordan Spieth was part of an unfortunate love tap. Spieth was greeted by a crowd of spectators while walking to the tee box when he accidentally hit a male fan with his putter.

Spieth gave a fist bump to the fan and immediately after, his putter flew forward and caught him in his crotch. The fan hunched over as Spieth walked past with a smirk on his face.

So all in all, Si Woo Kim making a few headlines for taking a puff on the course won’t be all that bad. Now we see how his round goes.

On3’s Nick Geddes also contributed to this report.