Capelle On Golf

We got to see Tiger Woods during this year’s AT&T National, only it was from his home where he is recuperating following knee surgery. He talked about the difficulty of moving from the bed to the couch with potty breaks in between, and of spending quality time with daughter Sam. Not a word about Elin, as seems to be his custom.

Woods said during the Q&A with Nick Faldo and Verne Lundquist that there is no specific timetable for his return. Though he mentioned a few of the steps leading up to him playing tournament golf, listeners were left with the feeling that his return could far exceed those optimistic six-month forecasts.

So while Woods is away, his competition will play – and hopefully improve in that all important mental game. Case in point is Anthony Kim, who was in the process of winning Tiger’s tournament while Tiger was speculating on his future.

Ten weeks ago Kim won his first PGA Tour victory at age 22 and 10 months. In doing so he served notice that he could be the young phenom that golf has been looking for, a player so good that he can’t be denied, and a player that doesn’t carry a dozen years of “I can’t beat Tiger” baggage with him.

Kim dominated a top notch field at Wachovia, winning by five shots despite bogeys on the seventy and seventy first holes. At the AT&T Kim trailed 54 hole leader Tom Pernice, Jr. by three shots and four others before charging home with a 65 to win by two shots.

Though his winning margin was slimmer, his performance was equally if not more impressive. Kim finished 13t in GIR at 75%. He missed 18 greens, but made only six bogeys, so his scrambling was superb. On the fourteenth hole of the final round Kim bunkered his second shot, blasted to seven feet, and holed the putt to maintain a two shot lead.

Kim hit 67.9% of the fairways to rank 20t in the field of 83. He was eighth in driving distance at 305.8 yards, so his combination of length and accuracy was deadly.

Perhaps the most impressive was Kim’s skill at closing the deal. On Saturday he suffered through a bad patch, bogeying three of five holes from 10-14. Then, over the last 22 holes, he scored six birdies, 16 pars, and zero bogeys in a hotly contested event in which perhaps a dozen players had a shot at winning.

Two wins in a span of 10 weeks and tons of game make is safe to conclude that Kim in no career grinder. Indeed, at 23 he has just matched the career victory total of Pernice, the 48-year old third round leader. Going forward you can expect to see Kim attending many trophy celebrations in his honor on the PGA Tour.

Now we want to know if Kim can win majors and slow Tiger’s assault on the record books. So far we don’t have much to go on as he’s only played in three Big Four events.

2007 US Open – 20t
2007 PGA – 50t
2008 US Open – 26t

Everyone is talking about what a great opportunity Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and other top stars have to pad their record in the majors while Tiger’s out of action. Meanwhile Kim, who will be looking for his first major, has a lot to gain himself.

Kim’s full of confidence, so much so that he used to rub some players the wrong way. Now that confidence is translating into wins and he’s developing the winner’s swagger. If he can elevate this art form by capturing one of this season’s last two majors, Mr. Woods might find himself facing a real live tiger when he makes his return.