Who Is Sei Young Kim’s Caddie? Everything You Need To Know About the Trusted Sidekick of the South Korean LPGA Star

Sei Young Kim is among the most prominent players on the LPGA Tour. Born in South Korea, she has been playing golf for a long time. In her country, she has played on the LPGA of Korea Tour and has won 5 tournaments on it. After tasting success in her native nation and gaining experience, she set her sights on a bigger field. She started playing on the LPGA Tour in 2015.

Since joining the tour in 2015, she has won 12 tournaments. Her biggest win came at the 2020 Women’s PGA Championship, a glorious victory she had been waiting for a long time. Other than that, she has also delivered some outstanding performances in other major championships.

In her term, she has made twelve top-10 finishes in major events. Assisting her in these events is the long-term and trusted caddie of Kim, Paul Fusco.

Meet Paul Fusco, long-term bagman of Sei Young Kim

Paul Fusco has been a caddie all his life, but his longest association has been with Sei Young Kim. The golfer has her sight set on the looper due to his extensive experience and joined the tour with him only. In early 2015, with Fusco by her side, Kim won the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic and LPGA Lotte Championship. 

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But the duo had to face a small phase of turbulence when Fusco was forced to leave her bag for the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open. He was found to be taking photos of the course setup before golfers and caddies were allowed to see them. It was a setback for Kim who entered the tournament as a top contender. She had to replace Fusco with Steve Bybee for the event. She couldn’t nab a win at the event and finished on T42. But later that year, she made up with winning the Blue Bay LPGA in November, where Fusco was on bag duty. 

Kim and Fusco won the biggest LPGA payday at CME Group Tour Championship

In the next few years, the duo won the JTBC Founders Cup, Meijer LPGA Classic, Marathon Classic, and other events. Their biggest payday came in the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship in Naples. Kim won the championship with a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole. She bagged the first prize in women’s golf history that year of $1.5 million.

Fusco earned his 10 percent cut of $150,000, which was the largest paycheck of an LPGA caddie. The amount came as a blessing for Fusco, who had recently gone through a divorce. He had the responsibility of his three children. With the money, he arranged for a house. 

The competition was intense with Kim tied on the 18th hole with Charlie Hull. But Fusco took care of his player. To relieve her of any stress, he didn’t tell her that the putt she was about to make was for the win. And it worked like magic as she made a 5-foot-long putt and won.

About their win, Fusco said, “This has to rank up there among my biggest achievements. My players have won more than 25 tournaments, and this one has to be the favorite.”

He also expressed the desire to win a major event. He said, “We haven’t won a major yet, which we will, but this one tops them all.” 

Winning the first major Women’s PGA Championship in 2020

His wish came true within three months as Kim won her first major the PGA Championship in October. This too was a tough competition and after three rounds of tough battle, Kim decided to go easy on herself and try to play in a relaxed mode.

She shot a final round of 63 and made a memorable win. Praising his player, Fusco later said in an interview: “She knew she could do it already. But to have that experience and come out on top, that cemented the idea and gave her confidence. So, coming out of that I felt, yes, she’s always been ready but now that really topped it.”

After her big win, Kim was asked how she chose Paul to be her bagman. It was then she revealed how Paul had won her confidence before even meeting her.

She said, “Before I came to the US, I actually saw Paul and saw how he prepared for each tournament and told myself that I wanna have him on my bag. So I reached out to him and he agreed”.

In the first game they played together, they missed the cut, but in the next tournament, they won and have been together ever since. She is glad to have him on her bag-duty. Having Paul on the ground as a friend and as a teammate gives her comfort and allows her to perform better.

And the duo are yet to win many events together.

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