The Anthony Kim back story

Of all the people viewing Anthony Kim’s impressive victory at the Wachovia Championship today, one watched with a touch of wistfulness. Commentators talked endlessly about Kim living in the desert but there’s a back story to the Anthony Kim saga.

Scott McGihon remembers. The three-time SCGA Amateur champion was the boys’ golf coach at Indio High School seven years when Kim moved to the desert to attend La Quinta High School. A year later, McGihon became the La Quinta High School golf coach, but Kim — already aiming for bigger things — announced that he wasn’t going to play for LQHS.

“Of course I tried to talk him out of it,” says McGihon (who by then had won his first SCGA Amateur title). “We played some golf together, but he had his mind made up. Then one day he called me for a putting lesson. I told him, ‘You can have all the putting lessons you want but you’ve got to join the team first.’”

Eventually, relates McGihon, they met at PGA West. “The ball rolled off his putter a little funny,” he remembers, “but he still made everything. It was obvious at that point that he was a great talent, and he’s gone on to prove it.”

Kim went to Oklahoma University (according to Jim Nantz because he liked the atmosphere at Sooner football games), was a three-time All-America (2004-2006) and NCAA Freshman of the Year (2004). He was one of three finalists for 2006 Ben Hogan Award and played on the victorious 2005 U.S. Walker Cup team. In 2006, he finished second in his first PGA Tour event (the Valero Texas Open), breezed through all three rounds of PGA Tour Q School (winning the second stage) and was runner-up for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year last year.

McGihon didn’t watch all of today’s telecast. “I was flipping back and forth between the Lakers and golf. But I did watch the end. It didn’t surprise me.” But he would have liked at least one year with Anthony Kim on his team.

Comments

[Jim Frohling]

The commentators mentioned yesterday that he was raised in Studio City, CA. So was I and my mother lived next door to a family named "Kim" for several years and thought highly of them.

Any connection, Anthony?

P.S. Nice win yesterday. You dominated? Either way, I'm a new fan!

Jim Frohling
Email: jimfrohling@hotmail.com