I can’t believe it’s been almost eight years since Anthony Kim teed it up last. He left us to get Achilles surgery in the summer of 2012, and we haven’t seen him since. It’s been well speculated as to the why and how he decided to leave the game, but ultimately no one really has the answer but the man himself.
Frankly, I’m grateful for the time he did give us. He was electric, fun, precise, wild, cocky, humble, and everything else. For every story of AK out on the town doing things that 20-somethings do, there is another story of his prolific generosity and humility.
LISTEN TO THE GEAR DIVE w/ Anthony Kim’s long-time swing coach Adam Schriber for the story of AK changing someone’s life with a big tip.
In my opinion, if he were still playing and healthy, he would be in that BK, Rory convo constantly. Let’s face it, he played well until injuries started to creep in. It’s a fact. His health went sideways in 2010, and it was uphill climb until he decided to hang it up.
I wanted to dive a little deeper into his gear, so I went to the person that worked with him closest. Ex-Nike tour tech and now @thetourvan‘s Ben Giunta.
SEE BELOW FOR AK’s final bag specs before he hung ’em up.
Ben Giunta, who worked with AK for years, had to say in regards to AK and his equipment.
JW: Not sure if TrackMan was really a thing back then but what kind of numbers did AK put up?
BG: So this is kinda weird in an era where TM is everywhere but I honestly don’t recall using a TM with AK. In those days, we used the big grey Nike talking box and don’t remember any of his data. I bet he was a 175-178 mph ball speed guy.
JW: Early on, he was known to use a low-lofted hybrid to replace his 3-wood. What was the process like to finally get him in that club?
BG: He hated hitting the ball left, especially with his woods. His fairway woods were always flat and bent open with hot-melt towards the toe. The only exception was in 2011, I built him a hot drawing 3-wood for Augusta. It wasn’t necessarily difficult to get him into a 3-wood, you just had to make sure it never went left (laughter).
JW: Did Mike Taylor do anything special to his irons? Or were they standard Nike blades?
BG: I’m sure MT touched his irons a bit, as he did for every Nike athlete, but he was pretty much a stock blade guy out of the box. His wedges, on the other hand, were MT specials. 54 and 59 every time with some specific toe-heel grinding on the 59. He was an incredible wedge player.
JW: Anything special overall you did for his equipment that stands out?
BG: AK was an incredible ball striker but when he missed it was left. I felt like we were always messing with woods…always open, always flat. AK wasn’t much of a tech guy, didn’t care much about what the product should do, just wanted it to work. 100 percent feel.
JW: Any fun AK stories from your time with him?
BG: Lots of AK stories, met the kid in 2007 at Q-School. He had just turned pro and at that time was followed by a ton of hype. I remember checking in with him to make sure he was good equipment-wise and he was as cool as could be smoking 4-iron after 4-iron, and I thought to myself this kid is going to be unbelievable.
15 months later he’s the hottest thing since sliced bread but still down to earth, at least inside the ropes. I remember seeing him in early 2013 with Adam at the Yard House in Palm Desert but the last event we actually did work was Quail in 2012 when he last showed up at a tour event. He was always good to me, great ball striker and competitor.
3-wood: Nike VR Pro LTD 15 @15.5, +3 Open, 56 Lie, D4 w/ Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana Ahina 80X@43
5-wood: Nike VR Pro LTD 19 @17, +4 Open, 56 Lie, D4 1/2 w/ UST AxivCore Tour Red 89X @42
Irons: Nike VR Pro Split CB (3) NIKE VR Pro MB (4-P) w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400. All Irons at D3 and Std Length (38 inch 5 Iron, 35 3/4 PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro “MT Grind”: (54, 59) w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400, 54 @D4, 59@D 4 1/2
Lofts and lies per club
3: 20, 56 1/2
4: 23, 56 1/2
5: 27, 58 1/2
6: 30, 59 3/4
7: 34, 60 1/2
8: 38, 61
9: 42, 61 1/2
PW: 46, 62
SW: 54, 61 1/2
LW: 59, 61 1/2
Putter: Switched between a Scotty Cameron “Button Back” Newport 2 and a Nike Method
Grips: Golf Pride BCT 60R Logo Down
When you look closely, you can see exactly what Ben was alluding to as far as the flatness of AK’s sticks. It was fun to dig into his bag a bit further but ultimately it’s bittersweet. I want AK to come back in a blaze of glory. He’s good for the game on every level. He’s a star, and I don’t think we ever saw exactly what he was capable of, just glancing blows.
AK became consumed with the hype of famedom. He became a diva and spent time being a
rock star versus practice and physical training to keep his body in top shape. The golf swing is very repetitive motion and as such puts tremendous stress on various parts of your body. Just ask TW, but his conditioning regimes allowed him to continue to
play/rehab due to his physical conditioning. AK let himself down and thought his talent would overcome conditioning. Didn’t happen and then everything started changing and soon it was gone. Talent in golf will only take you so far, but hard work and conditioning will provide years of rewards.
This made me think of John Daly. I wonder how much more success he could have had if he had tried to get in good physical condition…Maybe a lot more, who knows?
Daly just shows you how overrated AK was. Daly won 2 majors his 1st 4 years on tour. AK only acted like he did and then quit at the 1st sign of adversity.
AK AK AK, I mean I wish he kept playing but WRX been talking about his absence for years. Give it a rest. He couldn’t give one microgram of thought to any of you.
AK and that shinny diamond belt, smoked Sergio at Ryders.
I remember seeing him early on at Harbortown, he seemed nice enough. A year later saw him at the bar in San Diego and he was cocky, rich, spoiled and treated people with disrespect.
Glad he’s doing well with his $10 Mil, but don’t miss him on Sundays.
I think he either would have figured it out and stayed around and won a major off of talent alone much like Adam Scott or Sergio. Basically too much of a great ball striker with length that one week it would have been inevitable or…he would have flamed out due to lack of discipline. That’s where you have to hand it to Sergio. Lifelong dbag, but also lifelong grinder that never threw in the towel.
It wouldn’t be insurance fraud, his policy would just be over. His policy is most likely one of being compensated for loss of income due to injury. If he can prove that he can golf again, then his insurance policy would be over since he could make money from golf again. So his only options are to either try to practice and get good enough for the PGA Tour again, or keep his sticks in the closet and pull in hundreds of thousands of dollars per year from insurance.
BINGO!!! Thank you for putting it out there. He (or someone) was smart enough to buy that policy. He had, what, 2, maybe 3 good seasons 10+ YEARS AGO? WHO CARES ABOUT AK in 2020?????????? Let’s let this storyline fade into obscurity ASAP.
Good Friday morning, golf fans, may a bountiful weekend of golf be in store for you!
1. 58 on the Korn Ferry Tour
KFT staff report…”Frankie Capan III went crazy low Thursday on the Korn Ferry Tour. Nearly in record fashion.”
“Capan carded 13-under 58 in the opening round of the Veritex Bank Championship, matching the second lowest score in Korn Ferry Tour history. He fell one shy of Cristobal Del Solar’s record 57, set at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard earlier this year, but it was a heck of a show nonetheless.”
“The Minnesota native played an eight-hole stretch in 9-under Thursday, following an eagle at the par-5 ninth with seven straight birdies to begin the back nine at par-71 Texas Rangers Golf Club. He “cooled off” with a two-putt par at the long par-4 17th hole. He arrived at the par-5 18th hole at 13 under for the round, but he found a fairway bunker off the tee, laid up to 134 yards and missed his third shot left of the green. He chipped to 7 feet and drained the par putt to match the Korn Ferry Tour’s second-lowest score of 58, carded by Stephan Jaeger in the opening round of the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae.”
Paul Hodowanic for PGATour.com…”Late Thursday afternoon in New Orleans, Rory McIlroy rested his head on Shane Lowry’s shoulder.”
“It wasn’t the typical post-round moment, but this isn’t the typical event. McIlroy and Lowry teamed up for this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA TOUR’s lone team event, and the all-Irish duo put on a show. Sporting matching pink-on-navy getups, McIlroy/Lowry opened in a best-ball 11-under 61 in Thursday’s Four-ball format at TPC Louisiana.”
“This partnership might have stemmed from a boozy brunch last fall, but their opening-round performance at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans gave the field a sobering reminder: They’ll be tough to top.”
AP report…”Grace Kim shot a 7-under 64 at Wilshire Country Club to take the first-round lead Thursday in the LPGA Tour’s JM Eagle LA Championship.”
“Playing in the morning session, the 23-year-old Australian capped her bogey-free round with a chip-in birdie on the par-3 18th.”
“Well, I chunked my tee shot on the last hole 20 meters short and then I chipped it in it,” Kim said. “I think that’s pretty cool, in front of everyone
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that he is willing to rejoin the PGA Tour policy board if the other player directors want him.”
“As first reported by the Guardian, Webb Simpson has submitted a letter stating that he’d like to resign from the board, but only if his vacant seat is filled by McIlroy, who stepped down last fall because of the toll it had taken on him professionally and personally.”
“Five months later, what has changed?”
“I think I can be helpful,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he is partnering with Shane Lowry. “I don’t think there’s been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be. I think I could be helpful to the process. But only if people want me involved, I guess.”
Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan…”Charlie Woods is going to have to wait to play in the U.S. Open.”
“The 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods played Thursday in local qualifying for the United States Golf Association’s national championship, set for June 13-16 at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. Charlie played at The Legacy Golf & Tennis Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and he shot 9-over 81.”
“Charlie’s round featured a bogey on his opening hole, the par-4 first. He then doubled the par-5 second. A pair of pars followed before his lone birdie on the front, but another double the next hole, the par-4 sixth, had him turn in 4-over 40.”
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour heads to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic.
1. 15-year-old finishes top 20 on KFT
Jay Coffin for Golf Digest…”During a week when most eyes were on Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, the 15-year-old lefty finished off an incredible week with a five-under 66 in the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood Ranch in Florida.”
“After opening with 68-66-70, Russell finished at 14-under-par total to tie for 20th place. The finish in which he jumped 28 positions on the leaderboard on the final day, gives him an exemption into next week’s Veritex Bank Championship at Rangers Park in Arlington, Texas. He’s the youngest player to finish inside the top 20 on the PGA of Korn Ferry tours, according to records that go back to 1983.”
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Nelly Korda’s bid for a record-setting sixth consecutive win will have to wait a few weeks.”
“A day after capturing the Chevron Championship during a marathon final round in Houston, Korda announced on social media that she was withdrawing from this week’s JM Eagle LA Championship.”
“It was not an easy decision,” she wrote. “After the unbelievable week at the Chevron and grinding through the mental and physical challenges of four events in the past five weeks, I am definitely feeling exhausted. With so much still to come throughout 2024, I feel I need to listen to my body and get some rest, so I can be ready for the remainder of the season.”
Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”After Scheffler’s victory Monday morning at the RBC Heritage, Scheffler upped his points average to 15.016 and increased his advantage in the Official World Golf Ranking over No. 2 Rory McIlroy to more than double McIlroy’s 7.365 average, meaning Scheffler is ranked further ahead of No. 2 than No. 2 is ahead of the last-ranked player.”
“The last time a No. 1 player had a greater points average was Woods, who was at 15.4564 on Dec. 6, 2009. But Woods was less than seven average points ahead of No. 2 Phil Mickelson at the time. Earlier that year, Woods was 7.735 ahead of Mickelson, which is the last time the gap between Nos. 1 and 2 was greater than Scheffler’s current 7.651 advantage.”
PGATour.com’s Adam Stanley…”Rory McIlroy will make his tournament debut alongside good pal, Ryder Cup teammate, and Irishman Shane Lowry – a duo that was firmed up during a celebratory lunch after the Ryder Cup last fall… Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele will try to reprise their 2022 win here. Cantlay and Schauffele have both the Foursomes and Four-ball scoring records at this event… Davis Riley and Nick Hardy will defend their 2023 title. No team has gone back-to-back… Three sets of brothers (and two sets of twins!) will play together with twins Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard and Parker and Pierceson Coody in the field along with Alex and Matt Fitzpatrick. Alex Fitzpatrick and Rasmus Højgaard are sponsor invites…”
“Billy Horschel, who won last week at the Corales Puntacana Championship, will be without his previous partner Sam Burns, as Burns and his wife are expecting their first child any day. Horschel will instead be paired with fellow University of Florida alum Tyson Alexander. Horschel has won the Zurich Classic when it was both an individual and team event… Other notable pairings include Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris, and Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. The Canadian duo finished runner-up a year ago and would like nothing more than to show Presidents Cup International Team captain Mike Weir how well they play together… Steve Stricker will play his second TOUR event this season (after earning his way into THE PLAYERS Championship), teaming up with Matt Kuchar.”
Field Level Media report…”Tiger Woods announced Monday that Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner have joined his Jupiter Links GC TGL team.”
“The virtual golf league headed by Woods and Rory McIlroy will begin its inaugural season next January. Woods also unveiled the team’s logo.”
“I have already shared my excitement and optimism for TGL as a league and product,” said Woods. “Now that we have finalized our roster with a team of world-class golfers, I am even more confident that this group will proudly represent the Jupiter (Fla.) area and connect with our fans for years to come.”
Our Matt Vincenzi…”After the horn sounded to suspend play due to darkness, Cantlay, who’s ball was in the fairway on the 18th hole, had a decision to make. With over 200 yards into the green and extreme winds working against the shot, conventional wisdom would be to wait until Monday morning to hit the shot.”
“On the other hand, if he could finish the hole, he may just want to get the event over with so he could get out of Hilton Head.”
“Curiously, Cantlay chose neither of those options. After hitting 3-wood into the green, and still coming up short, the former FedEx Cup champion chose to mark his ball and chip and putt on Monday morning.”
“Ian Woosnam, who was watching from home, took to X to give his thoughts on Cantlay’s decision making.”
“Cantlay would end up getting up and down for par when play resumed at 8:00 am Monday morning.”
Our Matt Vincenzi…”After Justin Thomas’ third round of the RBC Heritage, the two-time major champion went in the broadcast booth alongside the CBS crew.”
“While Thomas was watching Scottie Scheffler play on the back nine of his third round, he wondered aloud why Scottie uses high-numbered golf balls.”
“Does anybody else think it’s weird that Scottie uses high numbers? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an elite player use high-numbered golf balls.”
“Amanda Balionis who was on the grounds chimed in, reporting that analyst Dottie Pepper had wondered the same thing earlier that day.”
“I’ve been going about this wrong my whole life,” Thomas jokingly said.
Mark Schlabach for ESPN…”Four-time major championship winner Rory McIlroy is poised to return to the PGA Tour’s policy board, pending a vote by the board, which could come as early as this week, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.”
“One of the PGA Tour’s most vocal supporters during its three-year battle with LIV Golf, McIlroy abruptly resigned as a player director on the tour’s influential policy board in November.”
“He is expected to replace policy board player director Webb Simpson, who intends to step away before his two-year term expires in 2025.”
PGA Tour report…”International Team Captain Mike Weir announced Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas as captain’s assistants for the 2024 Presidents Cup, which will be played at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, Sept. 24-29.
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Hoganben
Apr 8, 2020 at 11:42 am
What do you want the writers to write about?….Belerussian soccer is being played I think…we could read about their diets…vodka and borscht
Joe
Apr 5, 2020 at 6:20 pm
Genius, is really over used.
MW
Apr 3, 2020 at 7:49 pm
Must be pretty desperate in the journalism department these days. How is this even an article?
Kim Anthony
Apr 2, 2020 at 8:32 pm
The legend that never was
the dude
Apr 1, 2020 at 9:31 am
How’d this guy get “genius” status……gimme a break..
Speedy
Apr 2, 2020 at 3:38 pm
Right on, Dude. Overrated.
MajDuffer
Mar 23, 2020 at 12:34 pm
AK became consumed with the hype of famedom. He became a diva and spent time being a
rock star versus practice and physical training to keep his body in top shape. The golf swing is very repetitive motion and as such puts tremendous stress on various parts of your body. Just ask TW, but his conditioning regimes allowed him to continue to
play/rehab due to his physical conditioning. AK let himself down and thought his talent would overcome conditioning. Didn’t happen and then everything started changing and soon it was gone. Talent in golf will only take you so far, but hard work and conditioning will provide years of rewards.
Nack Jicklaus
May 2, 2020 at 7:34 am
This made me think of John Daly. I wonder how much more success he could have had if he had tried to get in good physical condition…Maybe a lot more, who knows?
Jon Burrows
Mar 29, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Daly just shows you how overrated AK was. Daly won 2 majors his 1st 4 years on tour. AK only acted like he did and then quit at the 1st sign of adversity.
TomAce
Mar 23, 2020 at 10:10 am
AK AK AK, I mean I wish he kept playing but WRX been talking about his absence for years. Give it a rest. He couldn’t give one microgram of thought to any of you.
Scott Mack
Mar 24, 2020 at 8:25 pm
I wish AK health and happiness. Stay cool
Stricks
Mar 22, 2020 at 4:20 pm
AK and that shinny diamond belt, smoked Sergio at Ryders.
I remember seeing him early on at Harbortown, he seemed nice enough. A year later saw him at the bar in San Diego and he was cocky, rich, spoiled and treated people with disrespect.
Glad he’s doing well with his $10 Mil, but don’t miss him on Sundays.
jim
Mar 22, 2020 at 2:07 pm
golfwrx the home of the Golfwrx moderator douchbags
Scott G
Mar 23, 2020 at 8:52 am
Agreed/ You cannot post anything these guys disagree with or you will be blocked. Complete douche control … no chance of appeal.
Alex
Mar 22, 2020 at 12:29 am
I think he either would have figured it out and stayed around and won a major off of talent alone much like Adam Scott or Sergio. Basically too much of a great ball striker with length that one week it would have been inevitable or…he would have flamed out due to lack of discipline. That’s where you have to hand it to Sergio. Lifelong dbag, but also lifelong grinder that never threw in the towel.
Michael Joyce
Mar 21, 2020 at 2:52 pm
AK had a problem with drugs alcohol and women just like Tiger. Too much to soon two young to bad. No mun no fun your son
Too bad so sad your dad.
Sailfishchris
Mar 21, 2020 at 11:06 am
…..coulda……..woulda……..shoulda…….
Bob Parsons
Mar 20, 2020 at 7:44 pm
Isn’t he basically not playing because it would be insurance fraud?
SCOTT
Mar 21, 2020 at 1:09 am
That’s what I heard as well. Most people are not aware that he can’t be seen in public hitting a golf ball or he will lose $…..
19_Majors
Mar 21, 2020 at 2:01 pm
It wouldn’t be insurance fraud, his policy would just be over. His policy is most likely one of being compensated for loss of income due to injury. If he can prove that he can golf again, then his insurance policy would be over since he could make money from golf again. So his only options are to either try to practice and get good enough for the PGA Tour again, or keep his sticks in the closet and pull in hundreds of thousands of dollars per year from insurance.
Mike
Apr 5, 2020 at 6:38 pm
Remember the “leave the gun, take the cannolis” line from Godfather? In this case, “leave the clubs (in the closet), cash the check”!
Mike
Apr 5, 2020 at 6:35 pm
BINGO!!! Thank you for putting it out there. He (or someone) was smart enough to buy that policy. He had, what, 2, maybe 3 good seasons 10+ YEARS AGO? WHO CARES ABOUT AK in 2020?????????? Let’s let this storyline fade into obscurity ASAP.