Kim brushes aside talk of being golf’s ‘next one’
by Jeremy Sandler | Canada.com
OAKVILLE, Ont. — If Anthony Kim wanted to deliver a shot that would sum up where he is in the golf world right now, he succeeded on the 16th hole of Wednesday’s pro-am event at the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey.
Kim’s 12-foot birdie putt rolled up the slight incline toward the centre of the cup before stopping at the lip, leaving Kim with a tap-in for par.
Kim himself was on the cusp on the eve of his second appearance at the Canadian Open.
“He’s a dedicated kid,” tournament director Bill Paul said. “I think he’s going to be the next superstar of the PGA Tour.”
Since Tiger Woods moved from hype to legend — and since Phil Mickelson, to some eyes at least, surfaced as a worthy foil at the top of golf’s pyramid — the Tour, the television networks and golf fans have been searching for an heir apparent, someone to continue the line that ran from Woods to Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and more.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Australian Adam Scott were seen as the next ones for a time. But with both closing in on 30, and without a major championship between them, it appears to have been misplaced hope.
Now the 24-year-old Kim, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa are the most touted to pick up the torch.
“You know what, I really don’t even hear it,” Kim said about being golf’s next one. “My buddies will joke around and tell me that I need to get on my game and beat them, and I’m on my own schedule.”
That was certainly the case during Kim’s hard-partying rookie season of 2007, when he had four top-10 finishes to go along with off-course habits that led fellow golfers to dub him Grey Goose, after the premium French vodka.
A heart-to-heart talk with Mark O’Meara — the PGA player of the year in 1998, when he won the British Open and the Masters, and Woods confidant, helped change Kim’s ways.
“He learned a lot from his rookie year on tour,” said Chris Armstrong, Kim’s Canadian agent. “He learned a lot from other guys on tour, what it would take to be successful. We certainly saw the results last year.”
Kim won the Wachovia Championship last year at age 22 to become the Tour’s youngest champion since Garcia in 2002. He later won the AT&T National. He also was the youngest member of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team, for which he delivered a key 5-and-4 win over Garcia in the first match of singles play on the final day.
That set the stage for what many thought would be a breakthrough 2009 season, but injuries have marred Kim’s year.