Young TOUR star Kim on track at Harbour Town
By Lauren Deason, PGATOUR.COM Editorial Coordinator
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- It wouldn't be fair to call this year a sophomore slump.
After all, Anthony Kim did tie for third at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in late January. He's already made $356,760 and is 82nd in the FedExCup standings after seven events.
| Anthony Kim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Yet, compare it to his freshman season and he's a little behind. Last year, expectations were piled upon his 21-year-old shoulders and Kim, the youngest rookie on the PGA TOUR, delivered big-time results.
During a 26-tournament schedule in 2007, Kim finished inside the top 25 an impressive 10 times, including four top-10s. His decision to forgo his final year at the University of Oklahoma seemed like a smart one when he made over $1.5 million in 10 months.
With results like that, Kim put the clubs into hibernation for the winter.
"I like to take a lot of breaks," explained Kim, who shot 67 Thursday in the first round of the Verizon Heritage. "So at the end of last year I took about two months off where I didn't touch a club. And obviously that didn't help me get off to a fast start this year."
Saying he didn't get off to a fast start isn't entirely accurate. Kim made $295,800 in his first tournament after the New Year. Since then, though, he's been outside the top 30 each week. The kid who missed just six cuts over 10 months has failed to make the weekend in three of his last four starts.
Something had to change. This wasn't the Anthony Kim who earned All-America honors three times as a Sooner. Nor was it the Anthony Kim who earned a sponsor's exemption into the 2006 Valero Texas Open -- as a 20-year-old -- and tied for second in his TOUR debut.
It turns out that Anthony Kim, the latest name on the "next Tiger Woods" list, fell victim to fatigue. So he took about 10 days off, bought a house in La Quinta, Calif., went furniture shopping, lounged around with his dogs and enjoyed a few days of normalcy.
"The first time I hit [a shot was this] Tuesday, actually," Kim said after the first round at Harbour Town. "I just needed a break. I was grinding. I've been working really hard and not seeing the results. It's been tough and very frustrating. But obviously with a round like today and hopefully a couple more, I'll be rewarded for all the hard work."
Kim's big-hitting style seems ill-equipped to handle the tight fairways, tricky winds and tough pins on this Pete Dye creation but he did just fine on opening day. Kim made four birdies on the front nine and closed with another to sit in a traffic jam one stroke off the lead.
Kim recently added a new club to the bag. The sixth longest hitter on TOUR, his drives were spraying all over the course at the start of the year. Then Kim switched to the new 2008 Nike Sumo driver and boosted his flagging confidence.
He's aware that his driver won't come into play as much this week on one of the TOUR's shorter venues. In fact, Kim probably used it only five or six times on Thursday. So he also relied on an intangible 15th club on Thursday -- patience.
"I got a little frustrated from Nos. 10 to 17 when I couldn't get a birdie to drop.
"Even though the wind was calm, it still swirls out there. So you have to stay patient. And I feel like I did a pretty good job," Kim said.
Kim finished the first day one behind Lucas Glover and former Verizon Heritage winners Davis Love III and Justin Leonard and even with former champ Stewart Cink. If he keeps this up, Kim may soon join their ranks.
"I think Anthony has got unbelievable talent. He's still learning a little bit about life on TOUR and traveling and those things. But I think he's adjusted pretty quickly, by most standards," Leonard said.
"Is he 22 yet? I know at that age I wasn't nearly as mature a golfer as he is. He's going to win a lot of golf tournaments and create quite a bit of excitement for a number of years."
Based on sheer talent, Cink expected Kim to win before now but cautions that it must be kept in perspective.
"You've got to be fair to the guy -- he's only been out here for a year and change. To win a golf tournament is a lot to ask," Cink said. "When we're playing golf in the Tiger Woods era, I think winning tournaments has short of been cheapened a little bit because you see Tiger do it so regularly, you get the perception that you think everybody ought to snap their fingers and have some trophies.
"A guy like Anthony Kim comes out, he's young, 21, 22 years old, he's got all the talent you could ask for and he'll win his tournaments, but it's not going to happen just like that. Tiger Woods -- he's not even one in a million, he's one in ever."
After 16 months as a TOUR pro -- he turned professional in 2006 and earned his TOUR card by advancing through all three stages of the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament -- is Kim himself befuddled by his lack TOUR wins?
"I'm surprised I haven't given myself more chances," he said. "It's tough to win out here. I have to realize that. I expected to win out here real early. I definitely feel like I've gotten a little beaten up out here. But it's definitely to my benefit. It's going to help me in the future. I'm learning as I go, and I'm still learning every day."
One of his trademarks is wearing a belt with his nickname "A.K." on the buckle. Every round he gets under his belt -- in his words -- "a benefit."
"Hopefully (each round) will lead (me closer) to some wins."
One down, three more to go this week.
Get the best deals on the best equipment all at the SHOP.PGATOUR.COM.
WATCH LIVE!
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network