Capelle On Golf

Anthony Kim is on everyone’s radar screen and he knows it. He’s expected to win and so he’s trying so hard to close like Tiger. On Sunday at the Canadian Open he donned a red shirt (with a Nike logo) and black slacks in preparation for the expected victory march. He lined up putts from all four sides and played cute little shape shots under pressure like Woods. And he got trounced by the Chez Reavie, the 362nd ranked player in the world.

After winning the AT&T National Kim was on top of the world. Golf was looking for a man to fill the void and up stepped Kim with a win less than two weeks after Tiger announced he was done for the year.

At the British Open, his next event, Kim had played himself into contention with nine holes to play by leading the field in GIR. But his putting, which was bad all week (he made only one eagle and four birdies despite hitting 50 greens) went from bad to horrible and he limped home in 40 shots for a big fat 75. Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington, who led him by a shot at the turn, shot 32 to beat him by nine.

In the Canadian Open Kim trailed by two at the turn after a one over 36 on the front nine. Still, he must have still liked his chances considering that he’d played the back nine in 34, 29, and 33 strokes the first three rounds. But his erratic iron play (he hit only 8 greens) went from bad to worse and he shot 39 for his second consecutive “closing” 75. But this 75 was even worse than at the Open because in the much easier conditions, the other members of the top 29 averaged only 69.32 on Sunday.

Its possible Kim’s not quite the rock solid closer we hoped he was. He’s got some issues and perhaps he should seek some help. Harrington was not too proud to employ the services of mental game coach Bob Rotella, and the payoff’s been two majors and counting. Tiger had a guru in his developmental years. And yet Kim, who idolizes Woods, brushed aside the notion of working with one:

No, I mean, I think if I start working with a sports psychologist, I’ll make it harder on myself. I’m somebody that likes to figure things out by themselves anyway. And if somebody tells me to do it, I probably won’t do it. I look at what guys like Tiger and talking to guys like Mark O’Meara, and just listening to what they have to say and definitely try to feed off what they say. I definitely try not to make the same mistakes they did.

Sorry Anthony, but you’re making the kind of mistakes that lose golf tournaments and it’s really not necessary. You could look at looses as learning experiences, but the best lessons come with victory. Tiger knows that as he’s said on several occasions that winning builds the habit. If he thought he needed a guru again, he’d seek one in a heartbeat.

You might consider doing the same. Otherwise your desire to “figure things out by themselves” could be your biggest mistake of all. Time is an expensive and unreliable teacher, and the majors won clock is always ticking. Just ask Sergio Garcia.