“I appreciate the energy and the love. Gotta know time and score tho!!! #USA”. Stephen Curry was quick to react after his name somehow got linked to the annual Presidents Cup Tournament in Montreal. While Curry is a renowned golfer, he didn’t make the competition. However, thanks to professional Korean golfer Si Woo Kim, one of Curry’s iconic gestures made it to the golf course.

Day two of the tournament saw Kim and his partner, Tom Kim, competing against Team USA golfers Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. During the game, Si Woo Kim executed a challenging chip shot, sinking a birdie on the 16th hole. As the ball went in, the player celebrated by running around and resting his head on joined hands to make the ‘Night-Night’ gesture.

Stephen Curry’s iconic celebration, as seen with Kim, has gained worldwide recognition. Its most recent appearance was during Curry’s performance against Team France in the 2024 Paris Olympics Finals. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also used the gesture during his speech at the DNC.

While not many Americans may be aware of the Korean sensation, they are aware of Curry’s signature gesture. Therefore, despite being on the opposite side, Si Woo Kim won the hearts of NBA fans who caught the highlight of the golf tournament. In light of this, let us take a deeper look into the sportsperson who adopted ‘Night-Night’ for himself.

Who is Si Woo Kim?

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Si Woo Kim developed a liking for golf through his father. Not much is known about him, due to the golfer’s reported preference for keeping his private life private. However, Kim did claim that his father was the only teacher he ever had.

An early interest in the sport allowed a 17-year-old Kim to enroll in the PGA Tour Qualifying School. When he tied for the 20 place, he became the youngest individual to graduate from the school back in 2012. Despite carrying the tag of a young prodigy, the South Korean had difficulty during his early years on the PGA Tour. After seven missed cuts during his debut season, Kim ended up withdrawing from the eighth tournament altogether.

He got his first big break in 2015. Not only did he win the Stonebrae Classic Web.com Tour event, but he also became the second-youngest golfer to do so. The next year delivered Kim his first PGA Tour win, closing with a 3-under 67 to finish at 21-under 259 during the Wyndham Championship. Add that to the fact that his final numbers tied Carl Pettersson’s 72-hole record. With this, Kim had begun to establish himself as a competition to be wary of.

Today, at just the age of 29, Si Woo Kim stands as the winner of 4 PGA Tours and 1 Korn Ferry Tour. He currently holds the 49 position on the ‘Official World Golf Ranking’, amongst a list of 8743 players.

In all the years that he has been a public figure, Si Woo Kim has never displayed any sort of opinion about basketball. Despite him being quite active on social media, fans haven’t been able to come across a post of him wielding the large orange ball instead of the small white one he usually deals with. In light of this, his pulling out Stephen Curry’s ‘Night-Night’ would have provided some context on where his favoritism lay. Fortunately, the golfer was happy to expand upon it.

“My favorite NBA player is Steph Curry” -Despite losing the tournament, Si Woo Kim has no regrets about pulling off the ‘Night-Night’ gesture

The thing that would have made the moment perfect for Si Woo Kim was if he had sealed the win after making Stephen Curry’s gesture. Unfortunately, the American team had other plans. Kim’s shot had only tied the score, not given him and Tom Kim the lead. Taking advantage, Cantlay went on to sink a 16-footer for birdie on 18, giving him and his partner the win. Despite how things turned out, the Korean golfer wasn’t going to let the highlight of the day for him to be fused out.

“I didn’t expect the ball to go in, but I was so excited,” said Kim in the aftermath of the match. “My favorite NBA player is Steph Curry, so that’s what I did. It didn’t finish well, but yeah, I was excited.”

However, Stephen Curry has said in the past that the ‘Night-Night’ move should not be made prematurely. Fortunately, there are more opportunities ahead. Si Woo Kim may get another chance to pull off the gesture at the ‘appropriate’ time.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.