She's handled it quite well.
"A lot of people got shocked by the putt more than I did, I think," Kim said Thursday after completing her Pro-Am round in the ShopRite LPGA Classic. "They were more worried about me, how I was going to [react] after.
"But what has happened has happened for me. I just have to learn from it. I have so many good people around me who support me and keep my mind in the right position. I'm really enjoying playing golf. This is what I love to do. Sometimes golf is life. It's a good lesson, I think."
Kim admits she still finds it hard to believe that she missed the putt. She said it serves as a reminder that "you've got to take care of everything" and "you have to give your best" on every shot.
And, yes, "Things happen," she said.
Kim appreciates the support she has received. The network includes her coach, her family, and friends who have helped her deal with the incident and its aftermath, which included a left wrist injury that has kept her out of tournament competition since April 19.
"I think it just gave me time to think about what's really important in life," she said. "Golf is a game. It's great. I love what I do. But without the fans and the sponsors, we wouldn't have the opportunity. I think the more important thing is the people and what you do after things like that."
It has been quite a career for Kim, who was born in South Korea and now lives in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. She was the 2005 U.S. Girls Junior champion and qualifying medalist in the 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur.
She has won three tournaments in her LPGA career, the last being the 2010 Lorena Ochoa Invitational, in which she evenly divided her first-place check and donated it to charities in Mexico and the United States.
Kim said her wrist injury, which resulted in her withdrawal from the Lotte Championship in Hawaii, was a loose ligament and a jammed nerve, products of "13 years of golf." She couldn't touch a club for five weeks, then resumed practice last week and said the wrist felt fine Thursday.
"Today was pain-free," she said, "but I still have to be careful."
Kim knows that people will continue to approach her and empathize about her fate in the Kraft Nabisco. But she won't let it affect her or keep her from enjoying the game no matter where she plays.
"There's nothing I can do about it," she said. "I had a lot of fun at Kraft. That's one of my favorite tournaments, so I'm looking forward to playing in it next year.
"You can't control the results. You've just got to do what you can do, and if you win, it's great. You never lose if you learn something."
Shore notes. A field of 144 players will compete in the $1.5 million event, with $225,000 going to the winner. . . . Kim said the course wasn't playing as fast as last year because of rain earlier in the week, but she thinks it will firm up if it stays dry. . . . Samantha Richdale, of Canada, and Courtney Harter, of Clearwater, Fla., won the two open spots in the field for qualifiers earlier this week.
Cristie Kerr accepted a $5,000 check from ShopRite and Coca-Cola as part of her "Birdies for Breast Cancer" initiative for the Cristie Kerr Women's Health Center in Jersey City, N.J.
Contact Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com. Follow @joejulesinq on Twitter.
