Was Anthony Kim's win at the Wachovia Championship truly a surprise? The kid has had some favorable results in the past. Perhaps his showing at this week's Players Championship will shed more light on whether he's the real deal.
And what's going on with Phil Mickelson? Putting hiccups have manifested this year. Will his winning form return in time to defend his title at TPC Sawgrass?
Jason Sobel and Bob Harig answer those questions and more in their weekly e-mail chat, Alternate Shot.
Jason, I never, ever do this because
well, I usually never have anything to gloat about with my predictions. But I saw this coming. Sort of. Had Kim as my sleeper pick this week. Said he was "close" to winning. Guess I didn't know how close. But my small victory was a huge one for Kim, who obviously has a lot of game and had a remarkably easy time of it in getting his first win Sunday at the Wachovia Championship.
And here's why you shouldn't gloat about this one, either: Quite frankly, Kim was a weak excuse for a "sleeper" pick. He entered the Wachovia with a T-2 at Harbour Town and a T-3 at the Bob Hope Classic under his trendy white belt already this season, which was enough to place him 35th on the money list. The University of Oklahoma product might be only 22, but he's been earmarked for the winner's circle ever since a runner-up result at the Texas Open in his PGA Tour debut two years ago. Had you picked him as a "sleeper" for that tourney, I would have recognized your prognosticating skills; to choose him at Quail Hollow, where he was T-5 last year, really wasn't much of a stretch.
I finally sort of get one right and you're calling me out? I should have picked him to win. All true, but we've seen plenty of good players come close and not break through and get it done. And to be honest, I was very curious to see how he would do with a four-shot lead, when you are supposed to win. Just last week Adam Scott blew a three-shot lead in five holes before winning in a playoff. But Kim birdied the first hole and never looked back.
It was in this very space a week ago that we discussed the ups and downs of young players such as Scott and Sergio Garcia, but they're grumpy old men compared with Kim, who became the eighth 20-something to win a PGA Tour title in 18 events this season; there were only seven in 47 events a year ago. It also has been about 12 months since we were asking questions such as "Where have all the great, young American golfers gone?" Now we have -- deep breath here -- Kim, Brandt Snedeker, Charles Howell III, J.B. Holmes, Sean O'Hair, Johnson Wagner, Jeff Quinney, Ryan Moore, John Mallinger, John Merrick, D.J. Trahan, Troy Matteson, Nick Watney, Nicholas Thompson, Steve Marino and Hunter Mahan all ranked within the tour's top 70. I wouldn't be surprised to see at least three or four of those guys, maybe more, make this year's U.S. Ryder Cup team, either.
It's great to see so much young talent, but here's the disclaimer: Can any one of them win on a consistent basis? We've seen this before, where a guy breaks through, we expect the world out of him, then he doesn't back it up with more victories. Sure, it's tough to do, which is why we've lamented the lack of 20-something major winners. So my question: Will Kim win again this year?
Probably not. And that says less about Kim than it does the talent level on the PGA Tour right now. I mean, how many "consistent winners" are out there? I say one -- and his name is Tiger Woods. Sure, guys such as Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Scott and K.J. Choi will win at least once per year and in some cases a handful more than that. If that's consistency, then sure, put Kim down for at least one victory annually, from now through, oh, the year 2032 or so. Woods has raised the bar so much so that we forget a three-win season is one heck of an accomplishment. Considering he'll have Tiger, the 15 U.S.-born under-30 players listed above and a bevy of young international stars (Scott, Trevor Immelman, Justin Rose and Garcia, to name a few, plus up-and-comers such as Jason Day and Rory McIlroy) to contend with in the long term, Kim will be hard-pressed to win more than twice per year or so -- and such a record shouldn't be considered disappointing by any means.
If he were to win twice a year, that would be phenomenal. Furyk doesn't win twice a year. Not consistently. Yet we consider him among the best in the world. We probably should ask: Will Kim win -- twice? Lots of the guys you mentioned earlier have a single victory in their careers and are waiting for No. 2. Speaking of No. 2
what about the second-ranked player in the world, Mickelson? He got off to a great start at Wachovia, then fizzled. He's defending his Players Championship title this week. He's been struggling lately. What's up with Phil?
That's pretty harsh for a guy who was top-five at the Masters in his previous start, then shot 68-74-69-72 to finish T-12 at Wachovia. Mickelson hasn't been too pleased with his putting, putting in extra work with short-game guru Dave Pelz recently. But it comes down to the same old story for Phil. At Quail Hollow, he led the field in one statistic -- double-bogeys. We've seen him manage his game better over the years, but like all contenders, he has to continue avoiding the big numbers. Replace those three doubles with pars, and he would have finished in a share of second place. That said, I think he has a great chance to successfully defend his title at TPC Sawgrass, where he played just about flawless golf last year.
Yeah, but we expect more out of Phil than a top-five at the Masters, where he was in perfect position to win after 36 holes. Or a tie for 12th at Wachovia after his first-round 68 put him one shot out of the lead. It is true that his putting has been off, and he seems to have a lot more of those untimely big numbers lately. Now he goes to a place where he never had much success before last year -- and managed to win despite having just started working with Butch Harmon.
Well, you'll have about as much luck hitting the lottery as you will picking winners at the Players. Just this decade, champions have ranged from Craig Perks to Fred Funk to Stephen Ames to Mickelson to Woods. Seems there's been just as much chance of a third-tier type guy or a no-name winning as of an elite player winning. Of course, with all this talk about young players right now, it seems only right that a few of these guys battle it out on a grand stage this week. Scott, the 2004 champ, is a solid pick, as is Kim, despite the fact that he missed the cut last year in his only previous appearance in the event.
The Players does have a diverse group of winners -- and never a repeat Champion. And since the tournament moved to the TPC Sawgrass in 1982, 19 of the 26 winners also have a major championship on their résumé. And only Perks had never won on the PGA Tour before his victory, suggesting it is important to have some sort of experience before winning. That doesn't make picking a winner any easier. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead.
Oh, c'mon, Bob. Make another daring "sleeper" pick. How about Mickelson to shock the world? Or maybe go way out on a limb with a guy like Singh or Furyk? I'm just kidding, of course, but one thing is for sure: You're definitely not allowed to choose Anthony Kim as a "sleeper" anymore.