Golf Capsules: On The Fringe: Kim reaches 1-year anniversary of last win

BETHESDA, Md. - Anthony Kim pressed a cell phone against his ear as he listened to Tiger Woods, the tournament host of the AT&T National, congratulate him on another impressive victory that seemed to mark the arrival of America's next great golfer.

That was one year and 25 tournaments ago.

Kim has yet to pose with another trophy he could call his own. Remember, the Ryder Cup is an exhibition, and no matter how thoroughly the 23-year-old dismantled Sergio Garcia in the leadoff singles match, it was a team effort.

Over the last year, Kim has made news for not remembering how many majors Woods had won, not being fully aware that the automobile industry was hurting, not realizing Colin Montgomerie had been selected Ryder Cup captain for Europe or not knowing Congressional once hosted a U.S. Open or two.

Trouble is, he has not made news for what matters.

Kim started the season with a runner-up finish at Kapalua. He has not finished in the top 10 anywhere in the world since. So perhaps it was not surprising Tuesday when someone asked him the best thing that has happened to him this year.

He thought about this briefly, then smiled.

"I made it to my 24th birthday," he said.

His age should count for something. When he unleashed a bogey-free 65 in the final round at Congressional last year for a two-shot victory, Kim became the first American under 25 since Woods to win at least twice on the PGA Tour in the same year.

Woods, who was home in Florida recuperating from reconstructive knee surgery, told him that day to keep working hard and there would be no limits on what Kim could achieve. And it appeared that Kim was headed in that direction.

He was in the mix Sunday at Royal Birkdale, his first taste of links golf. He was in the final group at the Canadian Open until he kept his foot on the accelerator through one too many construction zones, as Kim is prone to do. He was a birdie putt away from joining the playoff at the season-ending Tour Championship.

And there was that week at the Ryder Cup, where Kim was the life of the party in so many ways.

Still, celebrations for his golf have been rare.

Kim has dealt with more nagging injuries than he can recite, whether it was his jaw from a horseback riding in New Zealand to the most recent setback, an injury in his left thumb that kept him from making an aggressive pass at the ball.

He had to stick with fairway metals at long and soggy Bethpage Black, and he was pleased to finish tied for 16th with those kind of restrictions. He made 11 birdies in the second round at the Masters when he shot 65, but he didn't break par the other three rounds.

"It's probably been my toughest year on tour, the fact that I've had these little injuries that have held me back," Kim said. "But I'm learning more about myself when I'm not playing well. I'm learning how to play this game. I'm learning how to approach different situations when you're not playing you best, and it's going to help me when I do start hitting the ball well, and do start putting well, when my game comes together."

Kim isn't the only player who has struggled this year.

British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington has missed his last four cuts. Adam Scott had a hard time breaking 80 a few months ago. Ernie Els hasn't won in 16 months and has fallen out of the top 20.

The fact Kim has gone an entire year without winning is a reminder that winning is never easy on the PGA Tour.

"We live in the era of Tiger Woods, who makes winning look ridiculously easy," Paul Goydos said last week. "The more I think about it, the more I feel Tiger Woods is the most underrated player on this tour. You guys have no concept of what he accomplishes on a weekly basis when he plays. It's ridiculous how good he plays."

Even with 67 career victories and - pay attention, Anthony - 14 majors, Woods conceded that it's never easy.

"I certainly have won my share of tournaments, but I've lost more than I've won," he said. "And that's the nature of our sport. We do lose a lot of events."

Having turned 24 a few weeks ago, time is on Kim's side.

He is the defending champion at Congressional - remember, Anthony, it will host the U.S. Open in 2011 - and winning again will be more difficult this time with his health just now returning and Woods at full strength.

It would be easy to speculate that Kim is enjoying fruits more than labor, although only he knows how hard he is working. At least his objectives have not changed.

"I want to win golf tournaments. I'm here to do that," he said. "But at the same time, I have so much to look forward to. I heard you don't hit your peak at golf until 31, 33 years old. So I have a long way to go. I have a long career ahead of me. And as long as I stay positive and keep working hard, I should be in pretty good shape."

A game that taught Tiger how to break par

BETHESDA, Md. - Even when he was just learning to play golf, Tiger Woods never had any trouble breaking par. He owes that to his father making sure the bar was never set too high.

Earl Woods used to determine how many perfect shots his son needed to reach the green, then added two for the putts. As he got older and could hit the ball farther, par was reduced until it became regulation.

"The biggest argument Tiger and I have ever been involved with was changing his par," Earl Woods said in a 2000 interview. "I changed the par from 8 to 7 and he would complain, ‘No, no, no.' And then he would shoot sub-par. He never developed a comfort zone."

Woods recalled those days during his press conference Tuesday, especially when his father lowered par.

"Say it was a par 4 and it took me four to get there, the first time I got there in three, par automatically went down," Woods said. "Sometimes, he didn't know that I would lay up a couple times, not get the ball to the green, so I wouldn't have to drop par. And then he started catching on and he'd drop par anyway. It was his way of being creative enough where it taught me never to be afraid to go low.

"If I had a hot day, run with it."

Strangely, though, Woods doesn't prefer to play tournaments where he has to shoot 65 just to keep in contention.

Woods' career-best is a 61, and he has won 28 times on the PGA Tour when his score was 270 or lower. He goes into the AT&T National having finished at par or better at every tournament over the last two years.

GOYDOS ON THE GO

Paul Goydos tied for second last week at the Travelers Championship, which came with a big check and a small consolation. He moved into position to qualify for the British Open on a special, cumulative money list.

The British Open exempts the top two players (not already eligible) on a money list that includes The Players Championship, Memorial, St. Jude Classic, U.S. Open, Travelers Championship and this week's AT&T National.

Goydos earned $528,000 at Hartford, putting his total on the special money list at $759,467. That puts him atop the list among players not already eligible, leading U.S. Open runner-up Ricky Barnes ($588,762), John Mallinger ($584,319) and Kevin Na ($584,150).

PRO-AM PLAN

Starting next year, not playing in the pro-am won't necessarily mean being disqualified from PGA Tour events.

Under a plan the policy board adopted Tuesday, some players might have the option of skipping the round of golf with amateur clients in exchange for attending a corporate function during the tournament, such as a dinner or cocktail party with top clients.

The idea originated from the Tour Championship two years ago, when the greens at East Lake were in such bad shape from the heat that the pro-am was canceled and players instead took part in a Q&A with amateurs at breakfast.

"The sponsors loved it," Davis Love III said. "That's what got this thing going."

Love said the players ultimately would have the last word in case they need to participate in the pro-am to see the golf course. But he said it might help some players decide to play a tournament if they otherwise would miss because of family obligations.

Under the guidelines, anyone finishing in the top 30 on the money list of FedEx Cup standings could pick two tournaments where they can elect something other than the pro-am. Also, no more than three players per tournament could sign up for something other than the pro-am. Most of the arrangements would be decided a month in advance.

MAJOR STREAK

Phil Mickelson's wife, Amy, is to have surgery Wednesday to learn the scope of her breast cancer. Mickelson has already said it was "unlikely" he would play in the British Open during the early stages of her treatment.

If that's the case, it would end the longest active streak in the majors.

Mickelson has played 61 dating to the 1994 U.S. Open - he missed the Masters that year after breaking his leg while skiing. Next line would be Vijay Singh, who now has played 60 consecutive majors.

No one from this generation is likely to match the major streak set by Jack Nicklaus, who played 146 in a row from the 1962 Masters through the 1998 U.S. Open.

ENEMY TERRITORY

Tiger Woods didn't have a full appreciation of his market at the AT&T National.

It's one thing for Woods to play with a celebrity in the pro-am, even an NFL quarterback. It's quite another when that quarterback is Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys, playing before fans who live for the Washington Redskins.

"I didn't realize it was going to be this big a deal," Woods said.

It will be the second quarterback Woods has played with in a pro-am this year. He played with Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts at the Quail Hollow Championship.

The difference might be in crowd reaction.

"It's going to be a fun round, but also an interesting one," Woods said. "Granted, he used to getting booed, and it is what it is."

DIVOTS

The Barclays will be held at Ridgewood Country Club in 2010, then move to Plainfield Country Club in 2011. ... Rich Beem's effort to raise money for Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant Rich Behm, injured when the team's practice facility collapsed, raised $10,321. It started out as Beem wanting only to auction the clubs he used at the two Dallas-area tournaments. ... Rhode Island Country Club will host the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2011, and The Country Club in Cleveland will host it a year later. ... Kenny Perry went over the $30 million mark in career earnings last week.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Fred Couples won his first PGA Tour event in 1983 at Congressional when it was called the Kemper Open.

FINAL WORD

"Fans actually knew who I was for once." - U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover on the support he received in Hartford.

Tour to go ahead with groove changes

BETHESDA, Md. - PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem didn't have to spin this one. He made it clear Tuesday that the tour will go along next year with a new rule that changes the grooves in irons and wedges.

The U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient Golf Club announced last year that effective Jan. 1, the dimensions in grooves - from the 5-iron through wedges - would change to create less spin when the ball was struck. The idea was to make shots out of the rough more difficult, putting a higher premium on driving accuracy.

Finchem was under increasing pressure from players and some equipment companies to postpone by one year the new rule, allowing for more research in what amounts to the first rollback in golf equipment since World War II.

But after a spirited discussion by the PGA Tour policy board, Finchem decided to stay the course.

"I think that we're late in the process," Finchem said. "I think there's been a lot of reliance on the schedule by individuals, by equipment manufacturers, by other tours, by other golf organizations in taking steps to prepare for this schedule. We got a couple of requests to consider a delay, and we challenged whether that was a problem. And we concluded that it was."

Grooves previously were U shaped with sharp edges, allowing high-skilled players to generate enormous spin. The USGA was concerned that players were able to spin the ball out of the rough, allowing for shots to stop more quickly on the green. It felt that players no longer were penalized severely for missing the fairway.

"I think it's great," Tiger Woods said. "We've had plenty of time to make our adjustments. All the companies have been testing and getting ready for this, and the guys will make the changes."

Woods said players likely won't be able to control the ball out of the rough with smaller grooves, and it could change the way they attack par 5s or short par 4s that can be reached off the tee. Missing in the round spot could mean a player "is obviously going to pay a little more of a price."

Golf's governing bodies announced in August last year that the grooves rule would take effect Jan. 1 for major championships and tour events around the world. However, each tour has a "condition of competition" clause that allows it to decide whether to follow USGA rules.

USGA president Jim Vernon said two weeks ago that the U.S. Open would follow whatever the PGA Tour decided.

Golf officials said recreational players could continue using irons that were manufactured through 2010, and the new rules would not apply to them until at least 2024. Also, the grooves rule would not apply for events like the U.S. Amateur until 2014.

Acushnet Co., parent company of Titleist and Cobra, had asked that the rule not take effect until Jan. 1, 2011 to align with the date manufacturers are required to ship products with the new groove dimensions.

Otherwise, the company said it would create "bifurcation," which means not every golfer will be playing under the same rules.

"That disconnect is also unprecedented," Acushnet said in a statement.

John Solheim, chairman and CEO of Ping, had said Monday evening the company has been opposed to the rule all along, and that postponing the date it becomes effective was not the point.

"The new groove rule harms the game and golfers and should be dropped," Solheim said. "The recent uproar about it from PGA Tour players demonstrates this fact."

The nine-member policy board - four members are PGA Tour players - did not vote on the postponement. Rather, it deferred to Finchem and his staff because it was not policy, rather a "condition of competition."

"I concluded that delaying at this point in time probably was not in our overall best interests," Finchem said. "But the good news is that there continues to be wide support for the rule itself."

He said the tour would make available nearby courses at various tournaments later this year for players to test irons, specifically the wedges. Finchem also said there would be a "full-court press" to make sure players and equipment companies are up to speed as the new season - and new rules - nears.

Why not wait one more year?

"We thought that the bulk of the preparedness issue with the delay would be shifted to next year," he said.

-- Doug Ferguson