On Sunday, Anthony Kim (24) capped off the best week of his burgeoning professional career by shooting a final-round 7-under 65 to finish third at the 2010 Masters Tournament. This comes exactly one week after he beat Vaughn Taylor in a playoff to win the Shell Houston Open – his third tournament victory on the PGA Tour. With that win, Kim became only the fifth player in 30 years – including, among others, Sergio Garcia and 2010 Masters champion Phil Mickelson – to have won at least three times on the PGA Tour before age 25.
Meanwhile, Korea’s K.J. Choi (39) began his week paired with some fellow named Tiger Woods, in what promised to be the most scrutinized opening round of golf since…well…ever. While lesser players might have buckled under the spotlight, Choi, who was attempting to give Korea its second consecutive major champion (after Y.E. Yang won the 2009 PGA Championship), matched a very game Tiger stroke for stroke through all four rounds. In fact, Choi admitted on Thursday that he rather enjoys the extra attention that comes with playing in a group with Woods. Choi finished his strong tournament at 11-under par, tied with Tiger for fourth place overall and just five strokes out of the lead.
Kim entered Sunday’s final round at Augusta National at 5-under par for the tournament, tied for ninth with Korea’s Y.E. Yang. After making the turn at 2-under for the round to get to 7-under overall, however, Kim electrified the crowd by mounting a furious assault on the back-nine. Starting on the 13th hole, he caught fire during a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie sequence en route to carding a 65, the lowest single-round score of any player during the entire tournament. Kim finished the week at 12-under par, good enough for third place – his best finish yet in a major. But with his resplendent play on Sunday, Kim showed the golf world that his best, however frighteningly good that may be – is yet to come. Kim himself promised that if he could improve his ball striking, he would do even better next year. Now that’s a scary prospect indeed for the other players on tour.
Photo: Sky Sports
