The New Face of Golf?

I met Anthony Kim at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in the spring. He was with Blake Smith, one of his agents, who happens to be the son of Randy Smith, a former T2G contributor, and one of Golf Digest magazine’s perennial top-ranked instructors.

If I recall correctly, it was Tuesday or Wednesday of Tournament week and I was leaving the media room just as Blake and Anthony were arriving to give an interview. Blake, who I’ve known for a couple of years, grabbed my arm and said, “Sam, I want you to meet Anthony Kim.”

I remember being surprised, actually startled, when Anthony said, “Nice to meet you” in a voice two octaves lower than the bass singer of the Oak Ridge Boys. I also remember him being taller than I expected. He’s no Nick Faldo, but he’s an honest 5’ 10”. He also had a handshake like a vise, but what struck me the most is that he looked so Asian; not that there is anything wrong with that, except that he didn’t look like Jack, or Phil, or Ernie, or even Tiger. On top of that, he sounded like Toby Keith, no doubt the results of spending too much time in Norman, Oklahoma.

It was like the LPGA in drag… and I mean that in a nice way.

Obviously, Anthony is not the first player of Asian descent to play on the PGA Tour; as a matter of fact there are seven playing in 2008, but he may be the best. Forget about Shigeki, K. J. and the rest, this guy can really play… and that started me thinking.

Is it possible that the PGA is headed down the same path as the LPGA, where at last count had 57 Asians playing, plus Danielle Ammaccapane, Virada Nirapathpongporn and Stacy Prammanasudh, which makes me wonder how they get those names on a golf bag?

Granted, Anthony Kim was born in L.A., went to the University of Oklahoma and doesn’t care for Chinese food, but that’s not the point. If you didn’t know by now, golf in the United States is becoming an international game and that’s good news for many reasons. First, we want the PGA to be the best tour in the world. Forget that European Ryder Cup crap, the big dogs eat on the PGA Tour. When it suits us, we’ll travel around the world and kick butt, but most of the time we’ll stay home eating barbeque and drinking Bud; leave your corkscrew at home, this is America.

Today’s PGA looks like Tiger Woods, but it also looks like Vijay Singh, Shigeki Maruyama, Charlie Wi, Stuart Appleby, Sergio Garcia, Retife Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Gabriel Hjertsedt, Ruuji Imada, Andres Romero, Justin Rose, Rory Sabbatini and the pride and joy of the good old U.S. of A. Anthony Kim.

That’s why the PGA Tour is the best. The reason Anthony Kim is the best is that his scoring average is 70.95; his driving average is 301 yards; he’s hitting the fairway at a 58.70% clip, and greens 67.20% of the time, and averaging 29.14 putts per round. Oh yeah, and he has made $3,256,622 in 14 events in 2008.

He may not look like Tom Watson, who looks like Alfred E. Newman, who said "It takes one to know one -- and vice versa!" but he looks as American as Notah Begay III and Tiger Woods, and that’s what I like to think the American apple pie metaphor is all about.

Wait a minute; Notah Begay III is a Native American, which trumps everything.