The Common Golfer

Where has Anthony Kim gone lately?  After receiving the dubious label of “the next Tiger Woods,” and playing so well in 2008, Kim has been virtually non-existent this entire season.  With 2 wins and 8 top 10’s last year, it was exciting to see a new young gun rising through the ranks of the PGA tour.  Unfortunately, Kim has had only 3 top 10’s this year.

According to Wei Under Par (a great site, by the way), here is the reason behind Kim’s lackluster season:

According to a source, Anthony Kim isn’t feeling his usual swagger these days. The source chatted with AK’s trainer, Darby Rich, at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Rich said something like, “Ever since AK missed a crucial 3-foot putt at Congressional, he hasn’t had the confidence to make putts he should be making.” He also mentioned they were working on regaining his lost confidence.

Rich was likely referring to the 3-footer AK missed on the 8th hole in the final round of the AT&T National. He was playing with Tiger Woods, who shared the lead with him going into that day. But AK missed several short putts and finished with a lackluster one-over 71. He placed third.

So, it sounds like AK is struggling with a minor case of the yips. Amazing how one putt can shake a golfer’s confidence. Perhaps he’s calling on the powers of a sports psychologist, which wouldn’t be a surprise considering how important the mental game is.

On Sunday, the top 10 players for both Presidents Cup teams were finalized.  Now all that remains are the two captains’ picks for each side.  The matches are just around the corner, from October 8-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco, California.  Captains Fred Couples and Greg Norman will announce their captains’ picks on September 8.

The American team players so far are:  Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard.  The International team players so far are:  Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang and Tim Clark.

The American team players are determined by PGA Tour earnings over the past two years, with 2009 earnings worth double.  The International players are determined based on world ranking.  Couples has already said that Hunter Mahan will be one of his two picks.  Norman has made no indication as to who he may select.

I’m sure I hold a slight bias, just by being American, but it looks to me like the American team should be the heavy favorite in October.  Besides the obvious inclusion of Tiger Woods on the American team, Stricker, Johnson, and Perry have all been having great years.  When I look at the International players, there are a lot of big names on the team, but only a few of them have been playing consistently great golf this season.

Golf’s biggest names are all joining in a global effort to make golf an Olympic sport for the first time in 105 years.  On Thursday, August 13, the executive board of International Olympic Committee will vote on which two sports they will recommend be added to the Olympics as soon as 2016.  The full committee will then later vote to make the recommendations final.  Seven sports are being considered for two available spots, the other sports being rugby, softball, baseball, karate, roller sports, and squash.

A 4 1/2 minute video was sent to the IOC last month, presenting why golf should be an Olympic Sport.  The video featured Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, and Paula Creamer spoke on the video on behalf of American golf.  In addition, to present a “global front” for what is a global game, some of golf’s biggest international stars also spoke, including Annika Sorenstam, Ernie Els, Camilo Villegas, Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, and K.J. Choi.

First off, I’m not even sure what the hell “roller sports” are, but I’d be shocked if they were voted in.  The same can be said for squash, rugby, and karate.  However, given that softball and baseball have recently been in the Olympics, it seems that three sports are vying for two spots.  It’s odd, though, that softball and baseball are considered separate sports, when softball is basically women’s baseball.  Golf, on the other hand is one sport.  It will be very disappointing if golf doesn’t make it, and it seems the IOC could satisfy more people if they grouped baseball and softball as one.  Regardless of if golf returns to the Olympic rotation or not, it’s definitely absurd that it’s been out of the rotation for so long when you look at other summer Olympic sports (like table tennis, and beach volleyball to name a few).