Kim Sank Putts And Vodkas!

Sep 14 2008 By Euan Mclean

HE has been hailed as the most exciting talent since Tiger Woods and will spearhead America's young guns as they step fearlessly into Ryder Cup battle this week.

But Anthony Kim knows how close he came to watching this and every other Ryder Cup from a bar stool, just another wannabe loser who threw his big chance down the drain.

By his own admission the 23-year-old's attitude stank as he coasted through college golf all the way to the PGA Tour thanks to his talent rather than hard work.

A rebel who had disowned pushy father Paul after snapping under the strain of his overbearing and negative style of motivation, Kim was heading off the rails fast.

He said: "What was my problem? Too much drink, too many parties, not enough sleep, too much attitude plus a lot more on top.

"There's a long list of mistakes and it took a while for me to own up to them. Now that I have, though, I have peace of mind."

Kim is now ranked 11th in the world and it's hard to imagine his career was on a downward spiral a year ago.

His life was more about sinking vodkas rather than putts as the tag of being the hottest Tour rookie opened every party door.

However, he finally came to his senses at last year's Reno Tahoe Open.

Standing on the tee at the 460-yard par-four eighth, he took on a kamikaze 380-yard carry across a creek to hit a narrow strip of fairway.

Swinging as hard as he could the cocky upstart cleared the water then watched as the ball went into the trees and took a lucky bounce back on the fairway.

He made birdie but, more importantly, made sense of the reckless path he was on.

Kim added: "I felt as if I was doing the same withmy life, putting in a lot of risk for very little reward.

"Looking back that was embarrassing. I didn't respect the game enough.

"I thought making mistakes was fun.

"Yet I'm GLAD it was that way because I've learned from my mistakes.

"I just feel lucky I got myself together enough to get my tour card."