Anthony Kim

[cklee8]

I feel for Anthony Kim. From a young age no one ever gave him an out. His parents sold their house to get him a condo near a golf course at the age of 16. Talk about pressure. I come from an Asian household and I cannot imagine the inner turmoil he must have faced. Has instant success at the junior, collegiate, and tour level. Gets bound by contracts, ect. He gets injured preventing him from the playing the game he loves/hates. Now people won't stop bothering him about it.

[leftyshindig]

 

> "On the first tee of the opening singles match on Sunday at the 2008 Ryder Cup, Anthony Kim assured the American captain Paul Azinger, **“I’m gonna whup his **** for you.”** A bold prediction for a 23-year-old rookie facing down Europe’s talisman Sergio Garcia to make. A couple of hours later, Kim sank a seven footer on Valhalla’s 14th, did an exaggerated fist pump and then strode off purposefully towards the 15th tee-box. He had only gone a matter of yards when officials intercepted him to tell him that the putt had actually given him a 5 & 4 victory over the Spaniard."

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> https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/mystery-of-former-ryder-cup-star-anthony-kim-rumbles-on-1.3642284

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Loved his swing, loved his swagger.

I'll never forget that '08 Ryder Cup match with Sergio. On the first hole, they both had 4 footers for par, Sergio said "good,good...?" and AK replied "nah let's putt it out". AK bangs it in the back of the cup, Sergio wipes it right. Game on.

You can't tell me that right now, the Tour (or the American Ryder Cup team) couldn't use another stud like AK.

 

[EagleM.]

As a fan, I hope he had stayed in the game. But, I'm sure he made the best decision he could make back then. I hope he has no regret and living a happy life!

[Irishman1979]

Sometimes you wake up and no matter what you just don't have the desire anymore. Being so young he probably gained interest in business and so forth and just doesn't want to play golf anymore.

 

I don't believe that he never goes on the course. I believe he is a member at a very prestigious club that keeps that information sacred and private.

 

That is the life he prefers now.

 

On another note, anyone know what happened to Camilo Villegas?

[redfirebird08]

> @cklee8 said:

> I feel for Anthony Kim. From a young age no one ever gave him an out. His parents sold their house to get him a condo near a golf course at the age of 16. Talk about pressure. I come from an Asian household and I cannot imagine the inner turmoil he must have faced. Has instant success at the junior, collegiate, and tour level. Gets bound by contracts, ect. He gets injured preventing him from the playing the game he loves/hates. Now people won't stop bothering him about it.

 

Hard to feel bad for a guy who is probably above $20M in net worth. He is living the dream if you ask me.

[Fairway14]

I used to play golf with a guy who coached AK's high school golf team. He said it was common for AK to score 4 or 5 under par for the 9 hole high school matches.

[cklee8]

> @redfirebird08 said:

> > @cklee8 said:

> > I feel for Anthony Kim. From a young age no one ever gave him an out. His parents sold their house to get him a condo near a golf course at the age of 16. Talk about pressure. I come from an Asian household and I cannot imagine the inner turmoil he must have faced. Has instant success at the junior, collegiate, and tour level. Gets bound by contracts, ect. He gets injured preventing him from the playing the game he loves/hates. Now people won't stop bothering him about it.

>

> Hard to feel bad for a guy who is probably above $20M in net worth. He is living the dream if you ask me.

 

I'm not saying anyone has to feel bad for him. Just there seems to be a lack of general understanding surrounding his background. I'm okay with the choices he made, and hope nothing but the best for him.

[MK7Golf21]

> @Irishman1979 said:

> Sometimes you wake up and no matter what you just don't have the desire anymore. Being so young he probably gained interest in business and so forth and just doesn't want to play golf anymore.

>

> I don't believe that he never goes on the course. I believe he is a member at a very prestigious club that keeps that information sacred and private.

>

> That is the life he prefers now.

>

> On another note, anyone know what happened to Camilo Villegas?

 

According to his former coach on a podcast I listened to, his swing still looks the same now as before and still hits the ball pure.

[bunta]

If you guys want to know why we love AK so much.., this video of him and Tiger at a clinic tells it all. You will laugh your a*s off because 1. you will relate very well to AK. 2. He is as nonchalant, goofy, silly, humble, as you are going to see for a pro. And 3. He is downright funny.

 

Some excerpts from the vid so you know what to expect..

 

crowd: Whats your stance on ball position?

AK: Its different every day. thats not a joke. Pitching wedge for me could be on the left toe or it could on the right toe.

crowd: *laughs*

 

AK: i really dont know what im doing out there anyway. soo...

crowd: *laughs*

 

AK: my answers are terrible if you guys are trying to learn something.

crowd: *laughs*

 

AK: someitmes my sand wedge goes a 100 yards sometimes it goes 125. i just figure it out right before i go on the golf course.

crowd: *laughs*

 

AK: a 3/4 backswing actually goes further than when i go full backswing. its all a big guessing game.

crowd: *laughs*

 

 

 

 

 

[straightshot7]

> @cklee8 said:

> I feel for Anthony Kim. From a young age no one ever gave him an out. His parents sold their house to get him a condo near a golf course at the age of 16. Talk about pressure. I come from an Asian household and I cannot imagine the inner turmoil he must have faced. Has instant success at the junior, collegiate, and tour level. Gets bound by contracts, ect. He gets injured preventing him from the playing the game he loves/hates. Now people won't stop bothering him about it.

 

How did you miss that the "career ending injury" WAS the out...

[butterysnaphook]

I think people who are naturally great at something have issues dealing with injuries or other things because they’ve never had to “grind”. He probably realized he didn’t love it enough to grind for it so he took the money and ran.

[jtitleist12]

I miss AK...dude was fun to watch!

[youngwaldo]

Do any one here think AK is on this site reading all of this and laughing his head off?

 

Wk

[cklee8]

> @straightshot7 said:

> > @cklee8 said:

> > I feel for Anthony Kim. From a young age no one ever gave him an out. His parents sold their house to get him a condo near a golf course at the age of 16. Talk about pressure. I come from an Asian household and I cannot imagine the inner turmoil he must have faced. Has instant success at the junior, collegiate, and tour level. Gets bound by contracts, ect. He gets injured preventing him from the playing the game he loves/hates. Now people won't stop bothering him about it.

>

> How did you miss that the "career ending injury" WAS the out...

 

That's actually what I'm saying. He got out and now other people won't let it go.

[3jacker]

Hopefully only on golf internet boards that he doesn't read.

Hopefully he's doing what he wants and enjoying it.

[Golfjack]

> @youngwaldo said:

> Do any one here think AK is on this site reading all of this and laughing his head off?

>

> Wk

 

Nah if I was anybody famous I'd stay away from looking at the social media stuff. That's one way to get depression.

[tbonetw]

He's settled down and happy. He invested his money, is a business owner, and is happy. I don't want to say where I spoke to him, but I've spoken to him a few times casually. The last time was about a year ago and we didn't even discuss golf. Actually we talked mostly about cars. I would equate it to Andrew Luck as far as why he left the game. I don't know if the insurance policy thing is true or not. Obviously he got the insurance policy, but I don't know if his injury could be considered career ending so everyone draws their own conclusion. But he dealt with several injuries. He was injured, got healthy, got injured, got healthy and then tore his achilles and he just got tired of it all. So while I think he loved golf, he wasn't consumed by it and could live without it, like Andrew Luck and football. He was pretty wild the first time I met him, but he met a good woman and cut out the hardcore partying. He's a good dude and is very content with his life now and rarely plays golf. He won't ever be back.

[flip flappy]

I was going through through an old stash of Golf Digest magazines yesterday and opened one up from 2011. Nike had an ad campaign for a while where they would show one their players at "The Oven" swinging a club and then show their swing/club specs. This issue had Anthony Kim in the spotlight. Sure seems like longer that 8 years ago that he was still on the scene.

[leftyshindig]

I don't feel> @tbonetw said:

> He's settled down and happy. He invested his money, is a business owner, and is happy. I don't want to say where I spoke to him, but I've spoken to him a few times casually. The last time was about a year ago and we didn't even discuss golf. Actually we talked mostly about cars. I would equate it to Andrew Luck as far as why he left the game. I don't know if the insurance policy thing is true or not. Obviously he got the insurance policy, but I don't know if his injury could be considered career ending so everyone draws their own conclusion. But he dealt with several injuries. He was injured, got healthy, got injured, got healthy and then tore his achilles and he just got tired of it all. So while I think he loved golf, he wasn't consumed by it and could live without it, like Andrew Luck and football. He was pretty wild the first time I met him, but he met a good woman and cut out the hardcore partying. He's a good dude and is very content with his life now and rarely plays golf. He won't ever be back.

 

That's awesome you got a chance to chat with AK. I'm glad he's happy. Miss watching him on Tour but at least there still are a few you tube videos to watch to remind me of his swing. You nailed it with the Andrew Luck comparison.

[Oldboy]

 

Legend

 

[the bishop]

Lol. What's Charles' WRX handle?

[NetBogey]

the fascination with AK is:

He was a talent that was fun to watch. He brought a breathe of fresh air to the game of golf. Without AK, we are stuck watching P Reed in Nike apparel, which is not good for anything.

[MtlJeff]

Kim is like Elvis. 50yrs from now people will be reporting sightings of him . Swing still looks smooth at 83 guys, if he comes back do we think he has a chance against Brooks koepka the 3rd?

[PowderedToastMan]

I bet he could still roll out of bed and shoot 65 on pretty much any course in the world...

 

But he’s proof that joy in golf isn’t universal and professional sports aren’t for everyone.

[grm24]

Old story in a new article. Well done AK.https://www.golf.com/news/2019/11/25/anthony-kim-massive-tip-waitress/

[archer1]

What I really liked about Kim, was that he had an in your face belt buckle and an 'up yours' tournament and lifestyle attitude.

But, boy could he back up both of these.

[Man_O_War]

He's definitely going to be the guy who will look back and say...what a waste..could have given it my all..what a privilege abused...yes he has money..we know..

[bscinstnct]

Great post @grm24 !

 

Legend.

 

AK like that gunslinger who came into town, shot up his foes, then rode off into the sunset.....

 

But with like $25MM, lol

 

 

[ALIF]

AK just gets it! He’s a real dude.

[woods991]

That is awesome simply the truth!