Anthony Kim birdied his 18th to move within three shots of the leader Marcus Fraser on a shortened first day of the Ballantine’s Championship.

Tournament organisers were dealt a blow early on Thursday as thick fog descended on the course and caused a five-hour delay.

Worksop’s Mark Foster was leading the way after six holes when play was halted, having made an eagle and two birdies, and he carried on the momentum when play resumed with further birdies at eight, nine, 10 and 13. Bogeys on 15 and 17 saw him slip back to six-under, but he is still well placed after 18 holes.

For all Foster’s good work, he was overshadowed by Australian playing partner Fraser who made seven birdies in a round of 65.

Kim is one of the bigger names in the field and he looks sure to be in contention for the title after carding a four-birdie 68.

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Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim is eyeing up his first win outside of the United States this week as he tees it up at the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea.

The world No. 10 has been in great form of late, recently securing his third career title with a win at the Shell Houston Open and earning a third-place finish at the Masters with a terrific closing-round 65.

Kim finished 38th in The Race to Dubai last year but, despite spending the majority of his time playing on the PGA Tour, is adamant he wants to qualify for a place at the European Tour’s season-ending Dubai World Championship.

“I signed up for The European Tour again this year, and it wasn’t a tough decision,” Kim told reporters at Jeju Island, the venue for this week’s event.

AK Tour Schedule

sky.com

Anthony Kim has decided not to take part in the season-ending Dubai World Championship despite the huge prize money on offer.

The American, one of only three US-based players likely to qualify for the event later this month after, has opted to rest in order to begin preparations for next season.

The Ryder Cup player has already played the 11 tournaments required to qualify for the event, and jumped up to 39th in the Race to Dubai standings after reaching the final of last week’s World Match Play, where he lost to Ross Fisher, assuring of a place in the $7.5m tournament.

Kim admitted he had played too many tournaments in 2009 and will make some changes next year, although he still plans on renewing his European Tour membership.

“I’m not going,” he said. “I need the week off. My parents want to see their boy.

“Next year, I just want to be prepared for our season. The PGA Tour is my home tour, and it’s where I need to play well. I’ve made it my priority to play well in the States.

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by Peter Stone / The Sydney Morning Herald

AMERICAN Anthony Kim has had to find a last-minute replacement for his caddie in the $2.7 million Johnnie Walker Classic, which starts at The Vines today, courtesy of Australian Immigration authorities.

Kim, the world No.11, played in last week’s Malaysian Open with his regular American caddie Eric Larson, and they both arrived in Perth at 4pm on Monday. It is believed Larson was refused entry for an alleged failure to declare a criminal conviction in the United States.

Asked yesterday why Larson was not with him at The Vines, Kim replied: “He just had to go back home to take care of some personal things, for personal reasons, so he’ll be back on the bag next week [in the $US8m ($12.45m) WGC World Matchplay Championship in Arizona].

Had Larson been refused entry? “I don’t know much about what’s going on,” the 23-year-old said. “He had some things in Florida he needed to take care of.”

A spokesman for the Department of Immigration said: “All people wishing to enter Australia must meet the character requirements, and if immigration officers at the border determine that someone fails those requirements due to incidences of a serious criminal record, the passenger will be refused entry to Australia and will be returned to their country of departure.”

Larson was the long-term caddie for 1989 British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, but in 1995 he was convicted for his part in a small cocaine ring and served an 11-year jail sentence. Calcavecchia was the only person to visit Larson in all five prisons in which he served his time, and promised to stand by him on his release.

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New Straits Times

WORLD No 11 Anthony Kim may have failed to live up to his favourite’s tag but the Korean-American is well pleased with his Maybank Malaysian Open maiden outing.
In fact, Kim hopes to comeback for another crack at the event.

Kim signed off his outing at the Saujana Golf and Country Club with a bogey-free final round of five-under 67 for a total aggregate of seven-under 281 to tie for 33rd.

However, it would have been a different story if not for his disastrous opening round of 78 where he struggled on the slower greens.

But all credit to him for not giving up.
Kim quickly learnt how to tackle the greens and his second round seven-under 65 helped him make the cut at one-under.

“I am disappointed I didn’t play better this week but all in all, I hung in there tough and that’s really all that I could ask for. I gave it all I had,” said Kim yesterday.

“Nobody wants to finish wherever I did. Everybody wants to win the tournament. I did everything I could. I tried my best but it just did not happen.”

Kim, 24, is considered one of the hottest golfers in the world today and showed this by winning two US PGA Tour titles lat year.

He added: “The heat was not that bad. The weather is fine and the golf course is obviously yielding some good shots. I just did not play well enough or hole enough putts.”

Overall, Kim said, he enjoyed his stay and golf in Malaysia.

“I managed to get into town yesterday (Saturday) and met some wonderful people. I was excited to be here and, hopefully, I can get to come back,” he added.

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The Star

AMERICAN ace Anthony Kim scraped through to the weekend play of the Maybank Malaysian Open with an impressive seven-under 65 at the Saujana Golf and Country Club yesterday.

Kim bounced back with a bogey free score in the morning session to barely make the cut with a one-under 143 total.

But he had to wait until the afternoon session had ended to confirm his fate.

He started on a disastrous note after a miserable six-over 78 in the opening round on Thursday.

The world No. 11, who is the biggest drawcard for the Malaysian Open, is optimistic about bouncing back.

“I’ve done this many times. It’s not my first time being on the cut line of a tournament and I did everything I could to give myself an opportunity to play in the next two days,” said Kim.

Unlike the first round where he struggled on the greens, everything fell into place for the Ryder Cup star as he chalked up a 100% success rate in putting.

“I just tried to hit it five feet by the hole and it was perfect speed every time. So I started thinking that I needed to hit it four or five feet past the hole and, if I can keep putting like this, I’ll be fine,” said Kim.

“I was not too worried about my game. I felt like I was driving the ball good and giving myself 10, 12 footers.

“The 78 yesterday (on Thursday) was probably the worst game I played in two years but it was not due to playing poorly but just scoring terrible.

“I was embarassed with how I scored yesterday (on Thursday) and not making a birdie and not finding my rhythm out there. It was important for me, and my confidence, to come out and play a good round today (yesterday), whether or not I make the cut.”

Having survived the cut in his maiden Malaysian Open outing, Kim is planning to go on the offensive today.

“I’m going to attack the flags, hit as many drivers as I can as there are some holes where you can hit the driver on. The course sets up well for me if I hit the driver well,” said Kim.

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By Peter Hutcheon / Belfast Telegraph

Tiger Woods’ former coach Butch Harmon reckons Rory McIlroy is one of two main challengers to the world number one.

Harmon singled out McIlroy from the European Tour and American Anthony Kim from the PGA Tour as the two players most likely to put pressure on Woods when he returns from injury in the spring.

“Woods is mentally a very strong character. You can’t see his strength because it’s all up there in his mind, he’s so strong,” Harmon said.

“At the same time there are a few young players who are doing very well and if I were to pick one from each Tour, I’d pick Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy.”

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Anthony Kim is set to play in the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic next month in Perth, Austrailia. The event takes place from February 19-22 at The Vines Resort & Country Club in Perth, Western Australia which is co-sanctioned by the European Tour.

“I am very excited to play in my first JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC. I am really enjoying playing in tournaments all around the world and I can’t wait to visit Perth. One of my goals this year is to win my first European Tour title and it would be great to do that in February at the JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC,” commented Kim.

Kim joins Colin Montgomerie, Greg Norman, Camilo Villegas, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Paul Casey in a star-studded field.

Want to go to Perth too? FOX Sports is holding the “JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC” Game of Skill Competition. Just tell them in 25 words or less why you would love to walk with the legends at the Johnnie Walker Classic. Head over to FOXSports to enter.

EuropeanTour.com

Anthony Kim, one of golf’s hottest properties and one of The European Tour’s newest Members, is set to star in the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur from February 12-15, 2009.

The 23 year old Korean American burst onto the PGA Tour in 2007 and picked up two victories last season at the Wachovia Championship and the AT&T National, as well as playing an inspirational role in the USA’s Ryder Cup victory over Europe at Valhalla Golf Club.

Now a European Tour Member, Kim is relishing the opportunity to pick up valuable points in The Race to Dubai at Saujana Golf and Country Club next month.

“I had a great season on Tour last year and it will be a great experience for me to come to Malaysia to play in the Maybank Malaysian Open for the first time,” said Kim, who ended 2008 in 11th position on the Official World Golf Ranking.

“With the tournament being part of The Race to Dubai I know I will be facing a tough field but I hope I can play well and continue where I left off last season.”

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/ EuropeanTour.com

The potent combination of world-class performances – led by Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Robert Karlsson and Lee Westwood – and the lure of the inaugural Race to Dubai sees The European Tour’s current Membership ring in the New Year as the dominant force in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Of the 50 leading players in the game, based on the Official Ranking, a record 39 are now plying their trade on The European Tour with eight of the top ten all in Membership as dawn breaks on an exciting new year.

These impressive numbers are swollen by several new Full and Affiliate Members, namely Robert Allenby, Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Aaron Baddeley, Tim Clark, Ben Curtis, Anthony Kim, Geoff Ogilvy, Rory Sabbatini, Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir – with the prospect of further additions early in the New Year as The 2009 Race to Dubai gets into full swing. Read more…

Check the full European Tour Schedule