Anthony Ha-Jin Kim was born in June 19, 1985. He is an American professional golfer.A Korean American, Kim was born in Los Angeles and resides in Dallas, Texas. He attended La Quinta High School in La Quinta, California. After high school, he attended the University of Oklahoma for three years. He was part of the winning USA team in the 2005 Walker Cup. Kim turned professional in 2006 and after receiving a sponsor's exemption he finished in a tie for second on his PGA Tour debut at the 2006 Valero Texas Open. He earned his PGA Tour card through the qualifying school for the 2007 season. He made a strong start and broke into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings in May 2007 with four top 10 finishes during his rookie season on the PGA Tour. During his rookie year on tour it was known by many that he would smoke an ounce of dank a day earning him the nickname from Nick Faldo, "AK the smoking gun". In the 2007 U.S. Open, he shot a final round 67 earning him a tie for 20th place (he started the day at T57). His 67 was the lowest for the round and second lowest for the tournament.
In July 2008, Kim won
his second PGA Tour tournament at the AT&T National, defeating Fredrik Jacobson by two shots. Kim shot a 5 under 65 in the fourth round to capture the title. The victory was especially meaningful because the tournament is hosted by Tiger Woods. Furthermore, Kim became the first American under 25 to win twice in one year on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods in 2000. This win moved him to 14th in the World Rankings. A pair of T-3 finishes in the final two 2008 FedEx Cup events pushed him to 6th in the World Rankings. He has spent over 20 weeks in the top-10 since 2008.
In September 2008, Kim was a critical part of the United States' victory in the Ryder Cup, defeating Ryder Cup veteran Sergio García 5 & 4 in the first match of the Sunday single matches. Later that year he joined the European Tour for the 2009 season, making his debut as a member at the 2008 HSBC Champions, the first tournament of the 2009 season. He is expected to continue to play mainly in the United States.
In a surprised fashion, Anthony Kim dominated the fourth round in the AT&T National 2008 as he won by 2 shots over Fredrik Jacobson. Actually, it wasn't even close on Sunday as he was leading by 4 soon after the mid way point after he holed a putt thanks to a wedge that spun back to 5 feet from the cup. This guy is good, and he is for sure going to be a force to reckon with in the future. With 305.8 yards on average off the tee, 75% greens in regulation and 1.722 putts per hole, Anthony shot a total of 268 12-under par to win the four day tournament. What's really impressive was his final day performance where he shot 65. It seemed like he was just shooting at the pin and it was amazing to watch.
At the 2009 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia at Augusta National Golf Club, Kim set the record for most birdies in a round with eleven in the second round, surpassing Nick Price, who had ten birdies in 1986.vAt the 2009 Presidents Cup, Kim posted an impressive 3-1 record, which included a 5 and 3 victory over Robert Allenby in the Sunday singles match.vKim lost to Ross Fisher in the finals of the Volvo World Match Play in October 2009 4 & 3 after once again beating Robert Allenby in the semi-finals.
PGA golfer Anthony Kim, 22, became the youngest winner on the tour in more than six years, capturing the Wachovia Championship on Sunday, May 4th. The Korean American was born in Los Angeles and resides in Dallas, Texas. He earned his tour card though the qualifying school in time for the 2007 season. He broke into the top 100 in world golf ranking with four top 10 finishes during his rookie year. In April 2008 he reached a new career high of 37th in the world rankings. In his first career win, he defeated Ben Curtis by five shots. Kim’s 16-under par 272 was the lowest score in Wachovia tournament history.vThe win earned Kim $1,152,000 for his victory. He has also qualified for next year’s Masters by achieving his breakthrough victory. He had two previous runner up finishes, last month at Heritage Classic and in the 2006 Texas Open. On April 4, 2010, Kim won the Shell Houston Open, beating Vaughn Taylor in a playoff. He became only the fifth player in 30 years to have won three times on the PGA Tour before the age of 25, the others being Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Sergio García and Adam Scott.
Kim also participated in the fourth episode of the second season of Shaq Vs., which aired on August 24, 2010. In the episode, Kim teamed up with Shaquille O'Neal against fellow golf pro Bubba Watson and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley in a five-hole match. Team Shaq won in sudden death with O'Neal making the winning twenty-five foot putt. Anthony is no different than many golf afficionados who, for the past ten years, have been watching and learning from the number one golfer in the world, idolizing Woods as Tiger had done to Jack Nicklaus when he was just a kid. It was only after meeting Woods face-to-face that Kim realized that he needed to step-up his game. And with a “thumbs-up” from Tiger after his victory with a profound, “the sky’s the limit” pat on the back from golf royalty (or as Kim calls Tiger, “the Michael Jordan of golf"), Kim knew what he had to do. After Anthony realized that his “preparation and work ethic couldn’t have gotten any worse", Kim decided to “kick it up a notch” and we are all watching the result of his diligence. After two wins and eleven top-twenty-five finishes this season.
Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. Kuchar was born in Winter Park, Florida. He graduated from Georgia Tech, where he was a two-time first-team All-American on the golf team. In 1997, he won the U.S. Amateur. He received the Fred Haskins award in 1998 as the nation's top collegiate golfer. He was the low amateur at both The Masters and U.S. Open in 1998. He turned pro in 2000. One of Kuchar's teammates at Georgia Tech was future PGA Tour professional Bryce Molder. Kuchar's first win on the PGA Tour came at the 2002 Honda Classic; however, by 2006 he was on the Nationwide Tour after failing to earn enough money to qualify for the PGA Tour. He won the Nationwide Tour's 2006 Henrico County Open and finished 10th on the money list to earn his 2007 PGA Tour card. He retained his card in 2007 by finishing 115th on the money list and again in 2008 by finishing 70th.
Seven years after his first PGA Tour win, Kuchar won for a second time during the 2009 Fall Series at the Turning Stone Resort Championship in a playoff over Vaughn Taylor that concluded on Monday because of the playoff being postponed due to darkness on the previous Sunday. On August 15, 2010, Kuchar made the U.S. 2010 Ryder Cup team by earning enough points to take the 8th, and last position, awarded on points. At the time Kuchar led the PGA Tour in top-10 finishes for the year, but had not won a tournament in 2010. The winless streak ended at The Barclays on August 29, 2010, which was played at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey; Kuchar defeated Martin Laird on the first hole of a sudden death playoff. Kuchar won the Vardon Trophy and Byron Nelson Award in 2010 for lowest scoring average and the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list. Kuchar has featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings. MATT Kuchar won a darkness-halted playoff over fellow American Vaughan Taylor with a par on the sixth playoff hole to capture the PGA Turning Stone Resort Championship on Monday morning.
The smile that captured the galleries when he was an amateur at the 1998 Masters hasn't left him, but Matt Kuchar's golf game certainly has evolved over the years. A phenom who didn't live up to expectations has been enjoying a career resurgence. Maybe no one noticed - Kuchar isn't exactly the world's most interesting man - but from where he's sitting atop the PGA Championship leaderboard, his world is looking pretty good these days. "I think it's golf. I think that's what happens," he said after he took the lead with rounds of 67-69 to be at 8-under 134 for the tournament. "There aren't many people here that play this game that don't have ups and downs. I went through some stretches of not having it, but have kind of dug my way back out." There is a lot of dirt around the edges of that hole. Casual fans may remember him most this year for being Tiger Woods' playing partner at the Masters, but he went on to co-lead the PGA Tour with eight Top 10 finishes, place first in the all-around ranking and lead in actual scoring average. All he needs is his third career win.
He won the 1997 U.S. Amateur, was an All-American at Georgia Tech and made the cut at the 1998 Masters and U.S. Open before turning pro in 2000. When he won his first PGA Tour event, the 2002 Honda Classic, he figured this pro golf stuff wasn’t too difficult. “I went out and had a win straightaway in 2002 and thought it would be smooth sailing,” Kuchar said. But then there were the inevitable struggles. After just two top-10 finishes from 2003 through 2006, Kuchar found himself on the Nationwide Tour trying to rediscover his game and his confidence. It took a new swing coach in Chris O’Connell and new appreciation for the difficulty of his game to turn his career around. This year, he has posted eight top-10 finishes, and is atop the leaderboard at the 92nd PGA Championship at 8-under par after 36 holes.
“I think it’s golf,” Kuchar said after a 3-under 69 in his second round. “There aren’t many people that play this game that don’t have ups and downs. If you play golf, one day you have it and one day you don’t. We’re not a whole lot different. We’re a little more consistent, but the same things happen to us.” That same kid wouldn’t have handled all the adversity he faced yesterday. He had to complete his first round early yesterday morning, starting at the sixth hole (the 15th of his round), where he made birdie. He finished with a 5-under 67 and few minutes later went back out on the course to begin his second round. After playing the front nine in even par, he made three consecutive birdies at the 11th, 12th and 13th holes to lift him to 8-under. He made pars the rest of the way in.
In the summer of 1997, Matt Kuchar was sorting out the effects of his freshman year at Georgia Tech, playing some golf and hanging out like any other 19-year-old from Lake Mary. Life was so much simpler then. A year later, he finds himself playing the role of the "Anti-Tiger," the fresh face that will challenge the mighty Woods while disarming the golf world with a smile. A year ago, Kuchar was a well-known name in amateur golf circles, which is on par with being a well-known numismatist. It's a big deal only to those in the inner circle. The biggest difference is that once a year the best amateur golfer gets his 15 minutes of fame when he wins the U.S. Amateur title on national television. The coin collector, on the other hand, is lucky if he gets a mention in the local newspaper when he discovers an extremely rare coin. That was Kuchar's experience a year ago as he prepared for the first U.S. Amateur of the post-Tiger Woods era. After his freshman year at Georgia Tech, Kuchar's game was rounding into shape. He worked all summer towards the national amateur tournament for the sake of getting some valuable experience on the national stage.
