American Anthony Kim ready to bag first European Tour title at Iskandar Johor Open
Anthony Kim has turned out to be one of the trailblazing golfers of the year, posting some of the high profile finishes in the season. The 26-year-old, whose parents hail from Korea, has done marvellously well to soar in the ranks of high profile golfers
on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and while all of his victories have come on the PGA Tour so far, Kim is now contemplating to try his luck on the cold and windy Asian Turf.
Kim will be hoping to pull in his maiden European Tour victory at the latest US$2million Iskandar Johor Open, scheduled at the scenic Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and will be pitched against an sturdy field of both Asian
and European players.
“My form’s been good lately,” said Kim, “I’ve been able to find my game and build up some confidence, which has made a big difference. I’ve now got much more confidence that my approach shots will end up near the pin. As far as my technique goes, not much
has changed. I did some good work the day before flying out to Asia. I hit a couple of solid iron shots, which I’ve not been hitting, and also some fades with the driver, which is nice.”
A three-time PGA Tour winner, Kim has won four professional titles in his career so far, after he switched ranks to professional golf in the year 2006. He has been playing the PGA Tour since 2007 and joined the European counterpart in 2009. He has seldom
played on the European Tour circuit and has till now preferred to tee-off at PGA events rather than the European Tour.
The former University of Oklahoma graduate is currently ranked at 70th on the OWGR and hopes to break into the top-50 before the season finally culminates. In as many as 26 starts on the PGA Tour this year, Kim made the cut in 14 events and pulled
in two top-ten finishes. He has not won a title in the current year, but succeeded in soaring to a third place finish at last week’s Barclays Singapore Open.
Kim’s latest resurgence has placed him among the top contenders in the field of the celebrated Iskandar Johor title where he will wrestle his way among the giants of the likes of defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup-winning
Captain Colin Montgomerie, the 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.
Kim also had an impressive run in the major events this year including the Open Championship where he battled the tough Royal St. George’s to finish for a joint fifth. He missed the cut in both the Masters and the PGA Championship but hopes to regain the
momentum ahead of the Masters in 2012.