Kim's game shows very few shortcomings for a player so young
Anthony Kim may be just 23, but he plays more like a PGA Tour veteran. ESPN.com's Bob Harig and Jason Sobel break down Kim's future as well as the difficulty of talking golf without mentioning that Tiger guy in their weekly e-mail chat, Alternate Shot.
Is it possible to write something about the PGA Tour these days and not mention the world's No. 1-ranked player? ESPN.com golf experts Bob Harig and Jason Sobel tried to dance around him, but alas, came up short like a good lag putt.
So who did they talk about instead? Well, newly minted AT&T National champion Anthony Kim's future was a hot topic as well as what the Ryder Cup will hold for Kim and the rest of the American squad come September without, uh, Tiger Woods. (We said it was nearly impossible not to mention his name, didn't we?) Harig and Sobel delve into all these topics and more in their weekly e-mail chat, Alternate Shot.
FROM: Jason Sobel 
TO: Bob Harig |
He's not playing, so it's about time we got through one of these things without mentioning his name. So instead, I'll just say that in the time since a certain No. 1-ranked golfer announced that he'd miss the remainder of the season due to injury, we've seen Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry and now Anthony Kim -- each a top-20 player -- win on the PGA Tour. Not a stifling stiff among 'em. All of those folks bemoaning life without "that guy" playing golf might want to rethink that stance. There's no doubt ol' what's-his-face makes the game more exciting when he's competing, but it's not as if we're left watching paint dry without him.
FROM: Bob Harig
TO: Jason Sobel |
And to make it even better, we've seen one of the so-called young guys step up again. Cink is a player you expect to be there, Perry is enjoying a resurgence late in his career. But Kim is just 23 years old and now has two victories on the PGA Tour, this one following his win at the Wachovia. We've said many times how it would be nice to see one of these young guys step up and show some consistency. Kim joins you know who, Phil Mickelson and Perry as the only players with multiple wins this year.
|
FROM: Jason Sobel
TO: Bob Harig |
And these are just the first two of very many to come throughout his career. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not ready to anoint AK the next, well, he who shan't be named, but there's no way he's just a flash in the pan, either. Two things strike me as very impressive when looking at Kim's résumé: First, there's nothing he doesn't do well. Of the PGA Tour's "big eight" statistical categories (driving distance, driving accuracy, greens in regulation, putting average, eagles, birdie average, scoring average and sand save percentage), he ranks in the top half in everything except driving accuracy, which -- as any pro worth his weight in 460cc driver heads will tell you -- might be the least important of the eight right now. And secondly, he knows how to win. It takes some players entire careers to learn not only how to climb the leaderboard, but stay atop it when they get there. It seems like Kim was born with the natural ability to step on the gas pedal and never let up.
|
FROM: Bob Harig
TO: Jason Sobel |
The only thing he needs to add is a bit more consistency. After winning the Wachovia, he didn't really contend again until the AT&T. He now has four top-10s this year, but two of them are victories. Nothing wrong with that, but going forward, it would be nice to see him give himself more chances at victory. Then, of course, there is the issue of major championships. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves -- Kim has played in just three of them -- but giving himself a shot at one of those will be another big step.
|
FROM: Jason Sobel
TO: Bob Harig |
C'mon, Bob, this is the PGA Tour. You know as well as anyone that winning trophies a few times per year is more important -- both for status and for the wallet -- than playing well on a week-in, week-out basis without piling up those wins. It's like Kim said after clinching the tourney on Sunday: "If I'm going to finish 35th, 25th, every single week, I don't want to play golf. The reason I play is because I love the game, I love the feeling of competing and being in the hunt." Now, I don't believe there are many, if any, other guys on tour who feel any differently, but you've still gotta love the attitude, right?
|
FROM: Bob Harig
TO: Jason Sobel |
True, but he has finished 35th many weeks. Look, I'm not knocking him for it. He's only in his second year on tour. And I would say that contending more often would lead to even MORE victories, especially for someone as talented as Kim. Like you said earlier, he ranks favorably in nearly every statistical category. If he puts himself up there more often, he'll win a bunch of times. I agree it does no good to contend often and not win, but there is no reason why he can't do both.
|
FROM: Jason Sobel
TO: Bob Harig |
OK, I'll buy that. But the part about giving himself a chance to win major championships? Sure, it may be nice, but I think that may be jumping the gun a bit, too. I'm still among the minority -- though we may have grown a bit recently -- that believes Sergio Garcia will win five or six majors in his career. Adam Scott will take at least a few, too, as will Justin Rose and even an American youngster like Hunter Mahan. We've got to remember that these things take time. Preaching patience may sound like a ridiculous notion considering two 19-year-olds have won majors on the women's side in the past month, but it just takes longer in the men's game. Will Kim win a major in his career? Undoubtedly. Will he win more than one? Most likely. Will it happen in the next year or two? Maybe not, but -- and I know this isn't what you were intimating -- that doesn't mean he should be written off as a has-been or never-was by the time he's 25 or so.
|
FROM: Bob Harig
TO: Jason Sobel |
No doubt. Too much is often expected of these young players, and then they get into their mid-20s and people wonder what happened. Sergio's runner-up finish to Tiger at the PGA in '99 may have -- looking back -- been the worst thing that could have happened to him. Many expected him to take off and the pressure continues to mount. That said, Kim is off to a very nice start and it would be nice to see him build on it. Perhaps he can begin that process at Royal Birkdale or maybe the PGA Championship. Or even the Ryder Cup.
|
FROM: Jason Sobel
TO: Bob Harig |
|
FROM: Bob Harig
TO: Jason Sobel |
And Azinger's formula for trying to get a hot team is proving to be correct. You pretty much have to be on your game to move into the automatic qualifying positions. The past three winners -- Cink, Perry and Kim -- are all but certain locks for the team. Jim Furyk, another lock, had a high finish. But with just five more qualifying weeks to go, a lot is still up in the air -- which is good.
|
FROM: Jason Sobel
TO: Bob Harig |
Double points are available at both the British Open and PGA Championship, too, which means that a guy like, say, Jeff Quinney could win one -- or finish near the top -- and vault his way onto the team, without benefit of being picked as one of Azinger's four captain's selections. Of course, with all of those recent winners automatically qualifying for the team, I'm not sure the U.S. skipper will be able to find four other "hot" players by the time he makes his picks after the Deutsche Bank Championship. Maybe he can borrow a few from European captain Nick Faldo, who if the points list closed today, would have to choose his two picks from among Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie.
|
FROM: Bob Harig
TO: Jason Sobel |
That's the beautiful thing about waiting until after the Deutsche Bank to make the picks. That is three more tournaments beyond the PGA Championship. What if a guy wins two of those three events? He might not have been anywhere close in points, but he would certainly fit Azinger's criteria of being hot. The guys who happen to finish outside of the top nine (because of Tiger Woods' absence) in points are likely to be players who have not done much over the past two months. Those tournaments give them a shot at redemption while somebody we're not even thinking about still has a chance.
|
FROM: Jason Sobel
TO: Bob Harig |
You did it, Bob. Even parenthetically, you mentioned his name. That guy. What's-his-face. Nothing else to do but end the piece here, right? Besides, the underlying theme of the Ryder Cup will be his absence, and Kim's victory at Congressional came at his tournament, so here goes nothing: Tiger Woods. There, we're tied. We'll just have to try again next week.
