2009 PGA Tour Expectations: Anthony Kim

[shadowboy0387]

The 11th ranked player in the world burst onto the Tour last season, winning two events and having eight top 10's, along with finishing 6th on the money list. Anthony Kim, or AK as people call him, is a talented young player with an enormous amount of confidence. Don't expect any sophmore slump though, as 2008 wasn't his first season. An accident at a party during his rookie 2007 campaign forced him to become more focused on what's important in life, and that focus showed as he became a two time winner on the PGA Tour along with being a Ryder Cup Sensation going head to head with Europe's Ryder Cup leader Sergio Garcia.

This 23 year-old kid was above the average in every major category, with his highest rank being 5th in scoring and 9th in power. If you want to call it his worst, he has 77th in accuracy, WELL above the PGA Tour average. His finished 4th in the FedEx Cup playoffs and was ranked 5th during the regular season. The two events that AK won (Wachovia Championship; AT&T National[Tiger's Event]) weren't cake walks, nor were they events in which the major players don't play. He also joined Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia to be the last two players to have multi-win seasons before the age of 24.

I don't see any reason why AK can't win a Major championship this season. He's got everything in the bag and he's playing with the confidence of Tiger Woods... his idol. If he continues what he did last year, he'll compete for player of the year.
Win Total Prediction: 4 wins including the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship
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Adam Scott - 45 OWGR/13 PGA/EURO wins
Sergio Garcia - 51 OWGR/15 PGA/EURO wins
Braves: 79-59
Tigers: 68-70

[Tocs]

Anthony Kim:
As Shadow said, Kim is one of the brightest young stars on the PGA Tour, and dude has to have a ton of confidence after the show he put on last season. He won his first two PGA Tour events, had eight top-10 finishes, was 6th on the money list, and flat-out dominated in the Ryder Cup. As Shadow pointed out, he is ranked high in almost every statistical category and had one of the best scoring averages on Tour at 69.3.

AK is coming into the 2009 season ranked 11th in the world and its a good bet that he will break into the top ten at some point soon. He is the first American under 25 to win twice on Tour in the same year since Woods did it back in 2000. He finished the year strong, with two 3rd place finishes in the Fed-Ex Cup, along with the Ryder Cup where he beat Sergio Garcia 5&4, and a 4th place finish in the Cup.

AK should have another great year this year, with at least one victory and likely more. I can see him being a strong contender at the Majors this year, but I don't think we will see him take any home. Don't be surprised if he does though. At the end of the year, we will see AK in the running for taking home the Fed-Ex Cup, and hopefully he will give Woods a run for his money.

Prediction:
3 wins
7 top-five finishes
3rd place finish in Fed-Ex Cup
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RK Fantasy Golf Team
Jim Furyk
Brian Gay
Paul Casey
Robert Allenby
Ian Poulter
Michael Sim
John Rollins